HEROIC DEEDS OF 
AMERICAN SAILORS 




ALBERT F.BLAISDELLAND 
FRANCIS K. BALL 







Class E i^Z 
Book J^ ^ ^ 



Copyright }J^_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSni 



ml > • 




LEANING AGAINST A MAST HE STAYED ON DECK AND 
DIRECTED THE BATTLE. Frontispiece. See Page 84. 



Heroic Deeds of 
American Sailors 



By 
ALBERT F. BLAISDELL 

AND 

FRANCIS K. BALL 

Authors of " The American History Story-Book ' 
"The English History Story-Book," etc. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

FRANK T. MERRILL 



O 




cqWVAD ♦ Q3S 



Boston 

Little, Brown, and Company 

1915 



EiSZ 



,7^ L .^ 



Copyright^ 1915^ 
By Little, Brown, and Company. 



All rights reserved 
Published, September, 1915 



■1^0'; 



?' 



Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Gushing Co., Norwood, Mass. , U.S.A. 
Pressworkby S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, Mass., U. S.A. 



©C1.A411546 

SEP 161915 



PEEFACE 

This book is intended for young people be- 
tween the ages of eleven and fifteen. It is also 
designed for collateral reading in connection with 
the study of one or more of the formal elemen- 
tary textbooks on American history. 

The authors have attempted to set forth with 
some fullness of detail a number of dramatic 
and picturesque events to illustrate the perils 
and bravery of our heroes of the sea, in the 
hope of stimulating young people to further 
reading of maritime and other history. The 
stories herein narrated have been rewritten or 
adapted from trustworthy sources, and contain 
such incidents and anecdotes as are likely 
to hold the attention because of their human 
interest. 

It is suggested that teachers and parents sup- 
plement these narratives with other historical 

V 



PREFACE 

material obtained at school, in the home, or 
from the pubHc Hbrary. 

For permission to use the poem in Chapter I 
and other copyrighted material in Chapter XV 
the authors are indebted to the courtesy of 
Houghton Mifflin Company and Mr. William 
Stone Booth, author of "Wonderful Escapes by 

Americans." 

ALBEET F. BLAISDELL, 
FRANCIS K. BALL. 
August, 1915. 



VI 



CONTENTS 



Preface 

I. " Old Ironsides " . 

11. The Destruction of the Gaspee 

III. A Leap for Life 

IV. Decatur Burns the Philadelphia 
V. Somers, the Schoolboy Captain 

VI. Mysteries of the Sea 

Vn. A Duel at Sea .... 

VIII. The Enterprise and the Boxer 

IX. Thomas MacDonough 

X. Gushing Saves the Fleet 

XL How Gushing Escaped 

XII. Running the Blockade 

XIII. The Wreck of the Saginaw . 

XIV. A Fight with Filipinos . 
XV. Facing Death under the Sea 

Pronunciation of Proper Names 



PAGE 
V 

1 

15 

30 
39 
53 

63 

77 



110 
118 
129 
144 
156 
167 
181 



Vll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Leaning against a mast lie stayed on deck and 

directed the battle .... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Captain Bainbridge put the dying officer's sword 

into his hand 8 

The vessel was then set on fire, and about sunrise 

blew up 27 

" Yes," said Commodore Preble ; " but suppose the 

pirates catch you ? " 55 

MacDonough knelt on the quarter-deck and read 

from the Book of Common Prayer . . . 104 

The torpedo had done its work .... 117 



HEROIC DEEDS 
OF AMERICAN SAILORS 



^^OLD ironsides" 



IT was on a hot August afternoon, a 
little over one hundred years ago. 
About seven hundred miles north- 
east of Boston two of the finest warships in 
the world met in a fierce battle. One was 
the British frigate Guerriere; the other the 
American frigate Constitution, ever since 
known as ^^Old Ironsides." 

All was hurry and bustle on board the 
Constitution. 

^^ Clear for action," sounded the boat- 
swain's shrill whistle, and every man hurried 
to his place. 

1 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The Guerriere flung out a flag from each 
topmast. ^^Bang! bang!'^ flashed her big 
guns, but the cannon balls fell short. 

The British frigate drew nearer and nearer, 
and poured in a broadside. Not a gun was 
fired from the Constitution. 

^^ Shall we not fire, sir?'^ asked Lieutenant 
Morris. 

''Not yet,'' repHed Captain Hull. 

Three times Morris asked leave to fire a 
broadside. Each time Hull answered, ''Not 

yet.'' 

The men at the double-shotted guns grew 
restless as the cannon balls of the enemy 
tore through the rigging and the splinters 
wounded the crew. Indeed, it was trying to 
be under a hot fire without being allowed to 
strike back. 

Shortly the two warships were within 
pistol shot of each other. 

"Now then, men, do your duty. Fire," 
shouted Captain Hull. 

The Constitution fired a broadside at close 
2 



'^ OLD IRONSIDES " 

range. The shock was like an' earthquake. 
It made sad havoc on the Guerriere. Her 
mizzenmast was shattered and fell overboard. 

^^Why, Jack, we have made a brig of her," 
shouted a sailor to his mate. 

^^Wait a minute, and we will make a sloop 
of her," was the answer. 

The raking fire from the Constitution did 
indeed cut away the enemy's foremast and 
most of her rigging. In thirty minutes the 
proud British frigate was a helpless wreck 
in the trough of the sea. 

It was during the hottest part of this 
famous battle that the Constitution got the 
nickname of ^^Old Ironsides." As the story 
goes, a sailor saw a cannon ball strike the 
side of the vessel and fall back into the sea. 

^^ Hurrah for Old Ironsides!" he shouted; 
^^ don't you see her sides are made of iron?" 

However true the story may be, the name 
stuck to the glorious old frigate ever after. 

This battle between the Guerriere and the 
Constitution is one of the most famous and 

3 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

glorious in the history of our navy. Stories 
have been told and retold about it that would 
fill a big book. All agree that Captain Hull 
proved himself a fearless naval officer. His 
skill in handling his vessel won for him the 
deepest respect and confidence. Sailors were 
always eager to ship with him. They knew 
that whatever stress or danger they might 
meet with, they had a true man and a skillful 
sailor to look after their welfare. 

When Captain Dacres was climbing up the 
side of the American frigate to surrender 
his sword, Captain Hull went forward to 
meet his old friend. Reaching out his hand, 
he said, ''Dacres, give me your hand; I 
know you are hurt, but I will thank you for 
that hat.'' It seems that these two old 
friends had bet a hat on the result of a pos- 
sible battle between the two warships. 

The Guerriere was so badly battered that 
Captain Hull gave orders to set her on fire. 
He asked Dacres if there was anything he 
wished to save from the ship. 

4 



'^ OLD IRONSIDES '' 



'^Yes/^ said Dacres, ^^my mother ^s Bible 
has been left behind. I have carried it with 
me for many years/' 

From that day a still closer friendship 
began between these two gallant naval of- 
ficers, and lasted until HulFs death, thirty 
years afterward. 

What a royal greeting was given Captain 
Hull and his men as ''Old Ironsides'' sailed 
into Boston Harbor! The people were wild 
with joy. Thousands of men, women, and 
children crowded the streets. The city was 
gay with flags and bunting. There was a 
grand banquet in Faneuil Hall with many 
patriotic speeches and stirring music. 

The reason for this was plain. The war 
with England was well under way. Our 
people were feeling blue over the outlook. 
Trade was dead. Our merchant vessels were 
shut up in the harbors. British warships 
blockaded every important port. Captain 
Hull's superb victory broke the charm. It 
was like a bright gleam in the darkest night. 

5 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

In this victory all parts of the country could 
rejoice. It belonged to the nation as a whole. 

It was only a few weeks after her victory 
over the Guerriere that the Constitution 
fought her hardest fight. It took place off 
the coast of Brazil with the British frigate 
Java, a few days after Christmas in the year 
1812. 

Captain Lambert in command of the Java 
was held to be one of the ablest naval officers 
of his day. The Constitution sailed this 
time under the command of Captain Bain- 
bridge. This officer, as you may remember, 
lost his frigate, the Philadelphia, off the 
harbor of Tripoli and was kept in prison for 
a long time. 

At two o'clock this December afternoon 
the battle began with broadsides from both 
frigates. It was a sharp and lively fight. 
Bainbridge headed for the enemy, running 
great risk of being raked. The Java did 
little damage. Many of her shots went wild. 
By four o'clock the big guns of the Constitu- 

6 



^^ OLD IRONSIDES ^' 



tion had cut away everything except a part 
of the mainmast. The fine British frigate 
was now a helpless wreck. The Java had 
met the same fate as did the Guerriere. 
^^Old Ironsides'' lost her wheel during this 
battle, but too late in the action to do any 
harm. After the battle was over, the wheel 
of the Java was taken and put in place on 
the other ship. 

A little story is often told about this wheel. 
One day, years afterwards, some British 
naval officers paid a visit to the Constitution. 

^^You have a fine vessel,'' remarked one of 
them, '^but I must say that you have an ugly 
wheel for so beautiful a frigate." 

^^Yes," replied the captain, ^^it is ugly. 
We lost our wheel in fighting the Java, and 
after the battle we replaced it with her wheel. 
Somehow we have never felt like changing it." 

In the battle with the Java, Captain Bain- 
bridge was hit with a musket ball, and had 
also been wounded in the hip. He would 
not leave the deck. Captain Lambert, mor- 

7 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

tally wounded, was carried on board the Con- 
stitution, and laid in Captain Bainbridge's 
cabin. Everything was done to ease his pain. 

Captain Bainbridge put the dying officer's 
sword into his hand and said, ^^I return 
your sword with my sincerest wish that you 
may recover and wear it with honor to your- 
self and to your country.'' 

There was now another procession up State 
Street in Boston, and another banquet in 
Faneuil Hall, when Captain Bainbridge landed 
after his victory over the Java. And again 
they crowded to greet him when he set out 
by stage coach on his way to Washington. 

One moonlight night, three years after her 
victory over the Java, ^^Old Ironsides" fought 
another famous battle off the Madeira Islands. 
She was now commanded by Captain Charles 
Stewart. 

^^My dear, what shall I bring you for a 
present?" said Captain Stewart to his young 
wife as he was setting sail. 

^^ Bring me a British frigate." 
8 




CAPTAIN BAINBRIDGE PUT THE DYING OFFICER'S 
SWORD INTO HIS HAND. Page 8. 



'' OLD IRONSIDES '^ 



^^My dear, I'll bring you two/' smiled the 
gallant husband. 

Late one October afternoon in 1815 the 
British frigate Cyane and the sloop of war 
Levant hove in sight. 

Captain Stewart was one of the ablest 
sailors and most skillful fighters in the history 
of our navy. The seamanship shown in the 
battle between the Constitution and the two 
British warships has excited the wonder and 
admiration of naval experts. In just forty 
minutes the Cyane struck her colors. Before 
ten o'clock that same evening, under the 
bright light of a full moon, the Levant, a 
helpless wreck, hauled down her flag. 

Single-handed Captain Stewart had fought 
and defeated two British men-of-war at one 
time. And that, too, with the loss of only 
three men killed and twelve wounded. Thus 
ended the last great battle of ^^Old Ironsides." 

Captain Stewart served his country faith- 
fully for more than seventy years. He lived 
to be ninety-one. 

.9 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

As for ^^Old Ironsides/' it would take a 
book much larger than this to tell you all her 
exploits. We have no space to describe her 
remarkable escape from a British fleet. Our 
old friend Captain Isaac Hull was in com- 
mand, and he proved himself every inch a 
sailor. After a chase of three days and two 
nights the British squadron gave up the pur- 
suit. One week later Boston was nearly wild 
with joy when the grand old frigate ran the 
blockade and came to anchor in the harbor. 

After the War of 1812 there was a long 
period of peace. ^^Old Ironsides'' had carried 
her country's flag with dignity and honor. 
When the frigate was about thirty years 
old, she was called unseaworthy. The out- 
side planking and the decks were half rotted 
away. Some officials at Washington decided 
to have the old vessel broken up and sold for 
junk. 

Now we must keep in mind that the Con- 
stitution even from the first was a lucky 
vessel. She never lost a mast, and was 

10 



^^OLD ironsides'^ 



never badly injured in battle or in storm. 
Not one of her many captains died on board, 
and few of her crew were killed in action. 
Once more the good luck of the vessel came 
to her help. 

It happened in this way. OKver Wendell 
Holmes, a law student at Harvard College, 
read in the morning paper that it was planned 
to send the Constitution to the scrap heap. 
With a lead pencil he scribbled some verses 
and sent them to a Boston daily paper. 
This little poem of twenty-four lines appeared 
with the title of' ^^Old Ironsides,'' and aroused 
great enthusiasm. Far and wide it traveled 
through the country. In some of the large 
cities it was even printed as a handbill and 
scattered about the streets. Popular feeling 
swept everything before it. The officials 
at Washington saw their mistake. They 
made haste to revoke their order. The 
gallant old ship was saved. After all these 
years this spirited little poem will stir the 
blood of any American boy or girl, 

11 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! 

Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 

That banner in the sky ; 
Beneath it rung the battle shout, 

And burst the cannon's roar ; — 
The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more ! 

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 

Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 

And waves were white below, 
No more shall feel the victor's tread. 

Or know the conquered knee ; — 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 

The eagle of the sea ! 

better that her shattered hulk 

Should sink beneath the wave ; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep. 

And there should be her grave : 
Nail to the mast her holy flag. 

Set every threadbare'sail, 
And give her to the god of storms, 

The lightning and the gale ! 

The fighting career of ''Old Ironsides'' 
lasted only about twelve years.' She went 
out of commission nearly sixty years ago. 

12 



^^OLD ironsides" 

When the Civil War broke out, she was used 
as a training ship for the cadets at the Naval 
Academy in Newport, Rhode Island. Later 
she served as a receiving ship at the Ports- 
mouth navy yard. In October, 1897, she 
was towed to the navy yard at Charlestown 
to take part in her centennial celebration. 
She is still to be seen lying at the wharf, in 
plain view of the thousands who pass that 
way daily. 

The Constitution was built in Boston near 
what is now Constitution Wharf, only a few 
rods across the river from the navy yard. 
The best material was used. A man was 
sent to the South to select for her the live 
oak timbers, the red cedar, and the hard 
pine. In her long life of nearly one hundred 
and twenty years she has been partly rebuilt 
and repaired many times. Her floor frame 
and keel, hewn by hand from solid oak, are 
the same as when she bombarded the granite 
forts off the Barbary coast. Over these oak 
timbers floated the star-spangled banner and 

13 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the pennants of the gallant men whose deeds 
have shed luster on the American navy. 

There she lies, within the shadow of the 
large battleships and swift cruisers of our 
present navy, scarred and weather-beaten, a 
precious relic of the nation's glory. 



14 



II 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

OUR forefathers were thrifty and frugal. 
Even during the long and costly wars 
with the French and Indians the 
American colonies prospered. They built 
ships and made a good deal of money by 
trading with the West Indies. Their vessels 
carried out lumber, cloth, gunpowder, leather, 
and many other useful goods, and brought 
back molasses, sugar, rum, and kegs of silver 
dollars. At this time New England had 
more than five hundred vessels doing business 
along the coast and in foreign lands. 

The European nations were treating their 
colonies in America after the selfish and 
narrow notions of the times. They made 
all manner of laws to squeeze money out of 
them. Twenty-five years before the battle 

15 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

of Bunker Hill twenty-nine acts of the British 
Parliament had been passed with the purpose 
of letting all the loss of trade fall on us while 
all the gain should accrue to the mother 
country; for the signs of prosperit}^ in 
America did not please England. 

''This will never do/' said the English 
rulers; ''our colonies across the sea are 
getting rich trading with foreign people. We 
must stop it. We need the money to help 
to pay our war debt. We must force them 
to trade with us." 

It was a sorry day for our forefathers when, 
in 1760, George the Third, a young man of 
twenty, came to the English throne. He 
was narrow-minded, selfish, stubborn, and 
subject to attacks of mild insanity. 

"My colonies in America,'' said the dull 
monarch, "must pay our war debt and the 
cost of keeping my soldiers to enforce the 
laws." 

"We will not pay for your soldiers to stand 
guard over us," was the reply; "and what 

16 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

is more, we will not pay taxes unless we have 
something to say about making the laws." 

And so it came about that a quarrel was 
picked with our people. Harsh and unjust 
laws which had been a dead letter for years 
were brought to life and put in force. 

Our ships could not bring home from the 
West Indies sugar and molasses without 
paying a tax. They could not carry goods 
to other countries or bring back any except 
from English colonies. All kinds of hard- 
ware must be bought in England. Farmers 
could not even make goods from the wool of 
their own sheep. Pine trees of a certain 
size were marked with an arrow to show 
that they must be saved for the king's navy. 
A settler could not cut down a tree on his 
own land to build his own house. To make 
bad matters worse the people were subject 
to general search warrants, called '^ writs 
of assistance.'' That is, a tax collector could 
put in the warrant any name he wished. 
He did not bother about the right and wrong 

17 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

of it. He could enter a private house and 
search for smuggled goods when and where 
he pleased. Since he was not held responsible 
for any rudeness or insult, he would often 
enter and search private houses purely out 
of spite. 

Of course these unjust and harsh laws 
made a good deal of ill will toward the mother 
country. The quarrel grew more and more 
bitter as the years rolled by. 

Our forefathers thought it right to evade 
the unjust revenue laws. And so in spite of 
war vessels that served as watch dogs along 
the coast, our merchants loaded their ships 
and sailed them out of port as best they 
could. On their return home these vessels 
evaded the revenue officers and brought in 
smuggled goods, in spite of the strict laws. 
In a word, our merchants did a good deal of 
smuggling. 

At the time of our story trading vessels 
were doing a brisk business in smuggling 
goods into Newport and Providence. New- 

18 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

port was at this time one of the most im- 
portant seaports on the coast. Shrewd men 
used to say that if New York continued to 
increase as rapidly as it was doing, it would 
soon rival Newport. 

The royal revenue officers, with the aid 
of the warships stationed along the coast, 
were doing their best to put a stop to this 
illicit trade in Narragansett Bay. The king's 
tax collectors and the naval officers were too 
zealous in carrying out their orders. They 
greatly annoyed coasting vessels that were 
doing an honest business. The good people 
of Newport chafed under the yoke and were 
quick to seek revenge for the cruel and harsh 
treatment they received. Deeds of violence 
became common. 

Ten years before the battle of Lexington, 
the Maidstone, a British warship, lay at 
Newport for several months. The captain 
of the vessel aroused the hatred of the citi- 
zens by his high-handed actions. He not 
only impressed sailors entering the harbor 

19 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

from foreign lands, but took them from 
ships and small craft in the bay. 

The climax was reached one day when a 
brig from Africa sailed into Newport. The 
captain of the Maidstone boarded the ship 
and forced the entire crew into the king^s 
service. That same night a crowd of five 
hundred men and boys seized one of the 
boats of the Maidstone, dragged it through 
the streets of the town to the common, and 
burnt it amid the shouts and cheers of the 
angry citizens. 

Five years after this affair the warship 
Liberty fired on a brig entering the harbor, 
although no attempt had been made to 
evade the revenue laws. When the brig 
had lain at anchor for several days, her 
captain went on board the warship to claim 
the clothing that had been taken from his 
cabin. After some hot words he stepped in- 
to his boat to return, and was fired at several 
times. 

The news of the insult quickly spread 
20 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

through the Httle town. That night a mob 
of angry citizens sprang over the gunwale 
of the Liberty. The crew were driven below. 
There was no bloodshed. The cable was cut 
and the vessel soon drifted ashore. With 
the first high tide the hulk of the ill-fated 
warship floated away and drifted ashore 
again on a neighboring island. During the 
night a mob of angry citizens rowed over 
and set her on fire. The Liberty was burned 
to the water's edge. 

Of course, this defiance of the royal author- 
ity made a great stir. Every means was 
taken to find out and punish those who were 
concerned in the capture and destruction of 
the royal vessel. The name of not a single 
person who took part in this exploit was 
ever known. 

While the people of Newport were still 
gossiping, another outbreak took place which 
surpassed the burning of the Liberty. This 
was the affair of the Gaspee. Some wise 
men claim that this was the real opening 

21 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

of the war between King George and his 
American colonies. ' 

His Majesty's armed schooner, the Gaspee, 
under the command of Lieutenant Dudding- 
ton, was first seen about Newport in the 
spring of 1772. This ship was also sent to 
break up the smuggling carried on along 
Narragansett Bay. The Gaspee was a clean- 
cut, swift little vessel carrying eight light 
cannon. She could easily overhaul any vessel 
on the coast. 

The captain of the Gaspee went about 
his task with reckless zeal and rash judgment. 
He seized whatever goods he pleased, whether 
contraband or not. He stole the sheep, 
cattle, hogs, and poultry from the farmers 
along the shore. He cut down valuable 
trees and fired on market boats. Not a boat 
could sail between Newport and Providence 
without being searched. The result was that 
the over-zealous young captain made himself 
hated by the Rhode Island people for his 
insolent behavior and his foolhardy deeds. 

22 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

The angry people appealed to Admiral 
Montague, who was in command of the 
British fleet about Boston. The Admiral 
replied that Duddington was doing his duty, 
and threatened them if they dared to inter- 
fere with His Majesty's officers. 

One day in early June, about noon. Cap- 
tain Lindsey left Newport in his little packet 
named the Hannah to go to Providence. 
Soon after the Gaspee sailed in pursuit. 
The chase was kept up as far as Namquit 
Point, now Gaspee Point, which runs out 
into the bay seven miles below Providence. 
The Gaspee was fast overhauling the packet, 
when by some blunder of the pilot she ran 
aground on a sand bar. Amid the cheers 
and jeers of the crew the little packet Hannah 
sailed away and reached Providence about 
sunset. 

Captain Lindsey rushed to the office of 
Mr. John Brown, one of the great merchants 
of the city, and urged him to act. 

'^The Gaspee will stick on that sand bar 
23 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

until after midnight/^ he said; ^'and now is 
our time to put an end to the trouble and 
insults they have heaped on us/^ 

'^Rest assured, Captain Lindsey, I will 
attend to the matter at once.'' 

Straightway the patriotic merchant ordered 
one of his trusty shipmasters to get together 
eight of the largest longboats in the harbor. 
His orders were to have the oars muffled, 
and to have boats anchored off Fenner's 
Wharf, near a noted tavern known as the 
Sabin House. 

Soon after sunset a man walked through 
the main streets of Providence beating a 
drum and crying aloud: ^^The Gaspee is 
ashore on Namquit Point. Who will help 
to destroy her? Go to the Sabin House 
this evening." 

Later in the evening all was hurry and 
bustle in the old tavern. Scores of sturdy 
men with their guns and powderhorns crowded 
into the great hall. Before the fireplace in the 
large kitchen men were busy casting bullets. 

24 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

Shortly before midnight sixty-four sturdy 
citizens, without disguise, were chosen and 
ordered to go on board the longboats at 
Fenner^s Wharf. A veteran sea captain was 
selected to serve as steersman for each of the 
eight longboats. On the way down the river a 
number of paving' stones and stout clubs were 
taken on board for those who had no guns. 

^^Who goes there ?'^ sharply rang out across 
the water, when the boats came within sixty 
yards of the stranded Gaspee. 

No answer was made, and the lookout 
quickly repeated his call. 

^'I want to come aboard, ^^ shouted Captain 
Whipple, one of the steersmen. 

Captain Duddington, who was asleep in 
his cabin, now rushed on deck in his night 
clothes and cried out, ^^ Stand off there, you 
Yankees, you can^t come on board. ^' 

^^The captain makes a good mark,'^ said a 
young fellow, and thoughtlessly fired at him ; 
the captain of the Gaspee fell to the deck. 

Just then one of the leaders shouted, ^^I 'm 
25 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the sheriff of Kent County. I must have 
the captain of this vessel, dead or ahve. 
Boys, spring to your oars/^ 

In another moment the eight boats were 
alongside the Gaspee. The men clambered 
to the deck, and drove the crew below. A 
young fellow of nineteen, a medical student, 
named John Mawney, was sent into the 
cabin to attend the wounded captain. Dud- 
dington was shot through the hip and bleed- 
ing freely. There were no bandages, and 
the young surgeon tore his own shirt into 
strips to bind up the wound. The injured 
officer was gently lowered into a boat and 
carried up the river to Providence. 

Captain Duddington was so pleased with 
the young surgeon's skill that he offered him 
his gold stock-buckle. This gift was refused, 
but a silver buckle was offered and accepted. 
In after years young Mawney became a 
famous surgeon and lived to a great age. 
It is said that he wore this silver stock-buckle 
until the day of his death. 

26 



-i!3S»'f 







THE VESSEL WAS THEN SET ON FIRE AND 
ABOUT SUNRISE BLEW UP. Pa^e 27. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

The crew of the Gaspee were allowed to 
carry away their clothing. The personal 
baggage of Captain Duddington was carefully 
placed in one of the boats, to be delivered to 
the wounded officer. The men in the long- 
boats now began the work of destruction. 

More than fifty years afterward Dr. Maw- 
ney wrote an account of the exploit. He 
tells us that some of the men made a rush 
for the captain's cabin, in which a large 
amount of strong drink was stored. He 
himself broke the bottles by stamping them 
to pieces with the heels of his heavy boots, 
and no scenes of drunkenness took place. 
The furniture and fixtures of the ill-fated ves- 
sel were broken up. The crew were hurried 
into boats and put ashore. The vessel was 
then set on fire, and about sunrise blew up. 

In the early hours of a lovely June morning, 
the sturdy men of Providence rowed back to 
the city and quietly scattered to their homes. 

Of course there was a great hue and cry 
among the royal ofiicials over the insult to 

27 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

King George. The British government of- 
fered a reward of a thousand pounds for the 
leader of the expedition, and five hundred 
pounds to any person who would reveal the 
names of the guilty parties, with the promise 
of a pardon should the informer be an accom- 
pUce. No arrests were made. 

Long letters were written and despatches 
sent to and fro by the king's officials in Eng- 
land and the royal officers in this country. 
Nothing came of them. A court of inquiry 
under the great seal of England was estab- 
lished, which sat for six months. Not a 
single clue was ever discovered, although 
most of those who took part in the exploit 
were known to the people of Providence. 
! All this seems hard to believe, for Mr. 
Rowland, one of the party, in his old age 
said that on the morning after the affair a 
young fellow named Jacobs, with Dudding- 
ton's gold-laced hat on his head, paraded on 
Great Bridge and gave the full details to a 
crowd of admiring friends. The secret of 

28 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE 

the names was kept for many years. Long 
after the war some of the men, who had 
become leading citizens, came forward and 
boasted of the part they had taken in the 
destruction of the Gaspee. 

Four of the sixty-four who destroyed the 
Gaspee were mere lads, under nineteen years 
of age. They lived to take part, fifty-four 
years afterward, in the famous semicentennial 
of American Independence, July 4, 1826. 
The last survivor of the party was Colonel 
Bowen, who, at the age of eighty-six, wrote 
a most readable story of what took place on 
that eventful June night in Narragansett 
Bay. 



29 



in 

A LEAP FOR LIFE 

THE gallant frigate ''Old Ironsides'' had 
made a long cruise on the western 
coast of Africa in search of slave 
traders. She was now lying at anchor in a 
little harbor near Gibraltar. It was nearly 
sunset on a lovely summer day. The breeze 
of the morning had died away, and not a 
breath of air disturbed the quiet of the scene. 
Even on board the frigate there was un- 
usual stillness. The upper deck was almost 
deserted. The quartermaster of the watch, 
spyglass in hand, standing aft on the taffrail, 
was motionless as a statue. A group of some 
half dozen sailors had gathered on the fore- 
castle, where they were lying under the shade 
of the bulwarks. Here and there along the 
gangway sat three or four others. One with 

30 



A LEAP FOR LIFE 

his clothes bag beside him was overhauling 
his simple wardrobe. Another was working 
on a hammock for some favorite officer. A 
third was engaged, perhaps, in carving his 
name on the handle of a jackknife. 

In the full glare of the sun lay a negro, 
known as Black Jake. His flat nose was 
dilated to unusual width, and his ebony cheeks 
fairly glistened with delight, as he looked up 
at the gambols of a pet monkey named Jocko, 
clinging to the mainstay, just above Jake's 
wooly head, and chattering and grinning back 
at the negro. 

A minute later a merry laugh burst forth 
from some of the crew. Little Bob Stay, as 
the sailors called the commodore's son, stood 
halfway up the main-hatch ladder, clapping 
his hands and laughing while looking aloft. 
A single glance told the story of his laughter. 
Jocko, sitting at the end of the main yard, 
was picking threads from the tassel of Bob's 
cap, occasionally scratching his side and chat- 
tering as if enjoying the success of his mischief. 

31 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Bob was an active little fellow. Although 
he could not climb as nimbly as the monkey, 
he did not intend to lose his cap without an 
effort to regain it. Perhaps he was the more 
strongly urged to make chase after Jocko by 
the loud laugh of Black Jake, who seemed 
delighted at the monkey's trick and showed 
his pleasure by shaking his huge head and per- 
forming other grotesque actions. 

''Ha, you rascal. Jocko, ain't you got no 
mo' respec' fer de young off'cer dan ter take 
dat cap? We gwineter fetch you ter de 
gangway, you black nigger, an' give you a 
dozen on yo' bar' back." 

The monkey looked down from his perch 
as if he understood the threat of the negro, 
and chattered a sort of defiance in answer. 

''Ha, ha! Marster, he say you mus' ketch 
'im 'fo' you flog 'im ; an' hit ain't easy fer 
a midshipman in boots ter ketch a monkey 
bar'foot." 

A red spot mounted to little Bob's cheek, 
as he cast one glance of offended pride at 

32 



A LEAP FOR LIFE 

Jake and then sprang across the deck to the 
Jacobus ladder. In an instant he was halfway 
up the rigging, running over the ratlines as 
lightly as if they were a flight of stairs, while 
the shrouds scarcely quivered beneath his 
light steps. In a second more his hand was 
on the futtock shrouds. 

^^Marster!" cried Jake, who sometimes, 
being a favorite, ventured to take liberties 
with the younger officers. ^^Marster, better 
crawl thoo de lubber's hole ; hit take a sailor 
ter climb de futtock shroud." * 

But he had scarcely time to utter his pre- 
tended caution before Bob was in the top. 

Jocko had awaited the lad's approach until 
he got nearly up the rigging. Then suddenly 
putting the cap on his head, he ran along the 
yard to the opposite side of the top, sprang 

* " Futtock shrouds " are short iron rods which lead from 
the lower mast to the edge of the platform called the "top." 
The ''lubber's hole" is a hole in the floor of the platform, 
through which sailors may go aloft without climbing up out- 
side. The hole is considered by sailors as only fit to be used 
by lubbers. 

33 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

up a rope, and thence to the topmast back- 
stay, up which he cUmbed to the topmast 
crosstrees. Here he quietly seated himself 
and began again to pick the tassel to pieces. 

For several minutes the little boy followed 
Jocko from one piece of rigging to another. 
The monkey all the while exerted only so 
much agility as was necessary to elude his 
pursuer, and paused whenever the latter ap- 
peared to be growing weary of the chase. At 
last the animal succeeded in enticing Bob to 
the royal masthead. Springing suddenly on 
the royal stay, it ran nimbly down to the fore- 
topgallant masthead, thence down the rigging 
to the foretop. Leaping on the foreyard, it 
ran out to the yardarm, and hung the cap on 
the end of the studding-sail boom. There 
taking its seat, the monkey began a loud and 
exulting chattering. 

By this time Bob was tired out, but un- 
willing, perhaps, to return to the deck to be 
laughed at for his fruitless chase. He sat 
down in the royal crosstrees, while the sailors 

34 



A LEAP FOR LIFE 

returned to their occupations. The monkey, 
no longer the object of pursuit or attention, 
remained a little while on the yardarm, and 
then, taking up the cap, dropped it to the 
deck. 

All at once a cry of fright broke from Black 
Jake. 

'^Fer de Lawd's sake ! Marse Bob is on de 
maintruck!^' 

It was too true. The rash boy, after rest- 
ing on the royal crosstrees, had been seized 
with a wish to go still higher. He had 
climbed the main-skysail mast and was now 
actually standing on the very top. There was 
nothing above the boy or round him but the 
empty air ; beneath him, nothing but a point, 
hardly large enough to stand on. 

An attempt to get down from that dizzy 
height would be almost certain death. He 
would surely lose his balance and be hurled 
to the deck. 

What was to be done ? To call to him and 
tell him of the danger would be but to insure 

35 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

his death. Indeed, the rash boy seemed to 
realize his peril. Nobody could bear to look 
at him, nor yet could look away from him. 
The atmosphere appeared to grow thick and 
tremble and waver hke the heated air round a 
furnace. The mast seemed to totter, and the 
ship to pass from under their feet. 

The news of Bob^s peril had spread through 
the ship, and officers and crew crowded to the 
deck. Everybody turned pale, and all eyes 
were fastened on the truck. Nobody made a 
suggestion, nobody spoke. 

Once the first Heutenant seized the trumpet, 
as if to hail the boy. He had hardly raised it 
to his lips, when his arm sank to his side. 

At this moment there was a stir among the 
crew about the gangway. Another face was 
added to those on the deck. It was that of 
the commodore, Bob's father. He had come 
alongside without having been noticed, so 
intense was the interest that held every eye 
riveted to the mast. 

The commodore asked not a question, 
36 



A LEAP FOR LIFE 

uttered not a syllable. On reaching the deck 
he ordered a marine to hand him a musket. 
Then stepping aft, and getting on the lookout- 
block, he raised the gun to his shoulder and 
took deliberate aim at his son, at the same 
time haiUng him, without a trumpet, in a 
voice of thunder. 

^^ Robert! My boy! Jump! Jump over- 
board ! Jump, or 1 11 fire !^^ 

The boy hesitated. He was tottering. 
His arms were thrown out as if he could 
scarcely keep his balance. The commodore 
raised his voice again, and in a quicker and 
more energetic tone cried, ^'Jump, Robert! 
It 's your only chance for life !'' 

The words were hardly out of his mouth 
before the little fellow was seen to leave the 
truck and spring into the air. A sound be- 
tween a shriek and a groan burst from the 
sailors. The father spoke not, sighed not, 
indeed he did not seem to breathe. The 
moment was intense. With a rush like that 
of a cannon ball the body struck the water, 

37 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Before the waves closed over it, twenty stout 
fellows, among them several officers, had 
dived from the bulwarks. Another period of 
anxious suspense. The boy came to the 
surface. His arms were seen to move. He 
struck out for the ship. Despite the disci- 
pline of a man-of-war a cheer burst forth that 
rent the air. 

Up to this moment the old commodore had 
stood unmoved. The eyes of the sailors, 
glistening with joy, now sought his face, and 
saw that it was ashy pale. He started for- 
ward, but his knees bent beneath him. He 
gasped for breath, and put up his hand, as if 
to tear open his vest. He staggered, and 
would have fallen, had he not been caught by 
old Black Jake. 

''His father drew in silent joy 

Those wet arms round his neck, 
And folded to his heart the boy, 
And fainted on the deck." 



38 



IV 

DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

" A LL hands to muster!'^ was the 

Aa order on board the Httle twelve-gun 
schooner called the Enterprise. 

^^I need sixty men to go with me on the 
Intrepid to blow up the Philadelphia. Who 
will volunteer? Step forward, men, if you 
are willing/' Thus spoke Stephen Decatur. 

With a wild cheer every sailor, every officer, 
and even the youngest powder boy answered 
the call. The fine face of the young captain 
fighted up with joy. 

'^A thousand thanks, men, I 'm proud of 
you. I wish I could take you all.'' 

Sixty of the younger and most active men 
were chosen. 

'^Thankee, sir," said each man, as his name 
was called from the quarter-deck. 

This scene took place in the harbor of 
39 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Syracuse, in Sicily, in the year 1803, more 
than a hundred years ago. 

At this time the people on the north coast 
of Africa, the nations called the Barbary 
states, were making a great deal of trouble 
for our country, as well as for the nations of 
Europe. These Barbary pirates used to cap- 
ture and destroy the merchant vessels of all 
nations. They threw the sailors into prisons 
or sold them as slaves. As slaves they were 
cruelly treated and often died from their 
hardships. 

To get the good will of these pirates the 
nations of Europe used to give them cannon 
and gunpowder, and paid them big sums of 
money. This was, of course, blackmail. 

We did the same thing as the others. At 
first there was no help for it, for we were a 
young and feeble nation. There was also 
plenty of trouble at home, and we had only 
a few warships. After a time, however, this 
matter of paying blackmail to the Barbary 
states became a serious question. 

40 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

Then the ruler of Tripoli declared war 
against our country and insulted our flag. 
Two other Barbary states, Morocco and 
Tunis, burned our vessels, threw their officers 
into prison, and sold their crews as slaves. 
It was plain that these pirates must be taught 
a lesson. 

^^It is high time to stop paying this blood 
money," said President Jefferson. ^^We must 
deal with these fellows with an iron hand.'' 

The fearless man who wrote the Declara- 
tion of Independence was as good as his 
word. A fleet of warships, under the com- 
mand of Commodore Dale, was sent to the 
Barbary coast. The rulers of Morocco and 
Tunis were soon glad to sue for peace. The 
next step was to bring Tripoli to terms. 

One day Captain Stewart, who afterward 
became the best naval fighter of his time, in 
command of the lucky little Enterprise, gave 
the proud ruler of Tripoli a hint of what 
might be done. There was a short but brisk 
fight with a Tripolitan man-of-war. Three 

41 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

times the captain of the pirate vessel hauled 
down his flag as if to surrender. When the 
Enterprise stopped firing, up went the flag 
again. 

This insult was too much for the young 
American captain. He brought the Enter- 
prise alongside the pirate vessel. Followed 
by his men he sprang over her side. The 
Tripolitans were called the hardest hand-to- 
hand fighters in the world. But they had 
met their match this time. In less than 
thirty minutes their captain pulled down his 
flag and begged for quarter. Our men threw 
the cannon overboard, stripped the vessel of 
everything except an old sail and a single 
spar, and then set her adrift to make the 
nearest port. 

'^Tell your pasha,'' shouted Captain Stewart, 
as the pirate warship drifted away, ^Hhat 's 
the way my country will pay blackmail after 
this!'' 

Shortly afterward Commodore Preble was 
given the command of our fleet off the Bar- 

42 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

bary coast. His flagship was the nev/ly built 
frigate Constitution, now known to every 
American boy and girl as ^^Old Ironsides/' 
The captains in our fleet at this time were 
young men. Indeed, they were so young 
that the bluff old commodore used to poke 
fun at them and call them his ^^ schoolboy 
captains. '^ 

Late in the fall of 1803 the Philadelphia, 
one of the finest frigates in our little navy, 
while chasing a pirate vessel, ran on a reef 
near the harbor of TripoU. 

Captain Bainbridge and his men did the 
best they could. They cut away the fore- 
mast and threw the cannon overboard. It 
was all in vain. The fine warship was help- 
less either to fight or get off the reef. The 
Tripolitan gunboats swarmed round the ves- 
sel and opened fire. The gallant captain was 
forced to pull down his flag and surrender. 
He was the last man to leave his ship. The 
officers and men were taken ashore and put 
in the pasha's stone prison. 

43 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

After a time the Tripolitans got the frigate 
off the reef, towed her into the harbor, and 
anchored her under the cannon of the great 
stone castle. The Philadelphia was refitted, 
and the crescent flag raised over her. She 
was now ready to sail out and attack our 
shipping. 

These were sad days and nights for Cap- 
tain Bainbridge and his men. It was hard 
for them to look out of the heavily barred 
windows and see the pirate flag floating over 
their splendid ship. 

Of course all kinds of plans were made to 
rescue the Philadelphia. Captain Bainbridge 
wrote letters to Commodore Preble with 
lemon juice. These bits of paper looked 
blank. They could be read if held to the 
fire, for the heat brought out the trace of the 
lemon juice. The letters suggested various 
plans for sinking the ill-fated frigate. 

We may be sure that the ^^ schoolboy cap- 
tains,'' made up of such men as Isaac Hull, 
Stephen Decatur, Thomas MacDonough, 

44 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

James Lawrence, Charles Stewart, and David 
Porter, were eager to suggest some plan to 
destroy or recapture the vessel. 

^'For the honor of our country," said Com- 
modore Preble to his officers, ^^the Phila- 
delphia must never sail out under that pirate 



^^I have a plan, sir," said Stephen Decatur. 
^^If I succeed, it will be glory enough for a 
lifetime." 

Shortly before this, Decatur in the Enter- 
prise had captured a small Tripolitan vessel 
called a ketch. 

^^I will take the ketch and a crew of fifty 
or more men. I will fill the vessel with stuff 
that will burn easily. This kind of boat is 
so common here that the enemy will not 
suspect anything. I will steal into the harbor 
some dark night and get alongside the Phila- 
delphia, capture her, set her on fire, and get 
away before the Tripolitans know what has 
happened. My father, sir, was the first captain 
of the Philadelphia, and I claim the honor." 

45 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The young officer's fine black eyes shone 
like fire. He was only twenty-three years 
old, but was already known as one of the 
bravest officers of the time. 

Commodore Preble decided to try the 
plan. ^'You have spoken first/' he said, 
^^and it is only right that you should have 
the honor. May you succeed.'' 

Now there was hurry and bustle every- 
where. It seemed as if everybody in the fleet 
wished to take part in the deed. Decatur 
picked out sixty-two sailors and six officers 
from the crews of the Enterprise and the 
Constitution. These along with a Sicilian 
pilot named Catalano, who knew the harbor 
of Tripoli, made up the crew for this desperate 
exploit. Barrels of oakum soaked in oil and 
turpentine, together with kegs of gunpowder, 
were stored on board the ketch. The little 
vessel's name was changed to the Intrepid. 

On the ninth day of February, amid the 
wild cheers of the fleet, the little ketch sailed 
out of the harbor of Syracuse. 

46 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

The brig Siren sailed with her as a helper. 
On the fourth day the two vessels reached 
the coast of Tripoli. The weather suddenly 
changed. A stiff breeze drove them off shore 
and out to sea. For six days the gale blew. 
The poor fellows on the Intrepid had a hard 
time of it. The little craft was too small for 
so large a crew. The sailors slept on the deck 
or on the tops of the water casks. The 
officers slept on planks laid across the barrels 
of powder in the hold. The food ran short. 
The meat and bread were soaked with salt 
water. We are informed that the men told 
stories, cracked jokes, sang songs, and never 
lost their courage. They made light of their 
hardships and kept good-natured. 

After six days the sun shone again and 
brought comfort to the crews. The two 
vessels now set sail for Tripoli. When they 
drew near the city, the Siren was becalmed, 
while the Intrepid with a fighter breeze sped 
toward the harbor. 

^^It is all right, boys, the fewer the men 
47 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the greater the glory/^ said Decatur. ^^Keep 
cool and do as you are ordered/' 

Finding that he should reach the harbor 
before dark, Decatur put buckets, spare sails, 
and other drags over the stern of the ketch. 
He did not dare to shorten sail for fear that 
the watchful Tripolitans would be put on 
their guard. 

As it grew dark, he boldly steered his little 
craft into the harbor, where the black hull 
and spars of the ill-fated frigate stood out 
sharp against the blue African sky. His 
men, disguised in red jackets and fezzes, lay 
hidden on the deck behind the rails and masts. 
Decatur and Catalano, dressed like Maltese 
sailors, stood calmly at the wheel. 

^^ Vessel ahoy! Who are you? What do 
you want?'' shouted an officer from the 
frigate, as the Intrepid calmly sailed across 
the bows of the Philadelphia. 

Catalano replied in Itahan : ^^This is a 
ketch from Malta. We lost our anchor in 
the gale. Let us ride near you for to-night." 

48 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

'^All right, but only for to-night. We will 
throw you a line/' 

A line was lowered. The sailors on the In- 
trepid brought the little ketch close to the huge 
black hull of the frigate, and made her fast. 

The officer on the Philadelphia did not like 
the looks of things. 

'^Cut that hawser. These fellows have 
lied/' he shouted to his men. 

'^ Board, board/' shouted Decatur, and 
sprang for the deck of the Philadelphia. 

The Tripolitans were caught napping, but 
they fought hard. Decatur and his men 
hewed their way through the pirates on the 
main deck while MacDonough and Lawrence 
swept everything before them on the gun deck. 

''No prisoners," was the order. ''Phila- 
delphia" was the watchword. It was a sharp 
hand-to-hand fight. No firearms were used, 
only cutlasses. It was quick work. In less 
than half an hour every Tripolitan had been 
killed or driven overboard. Not an American 
received more than a scratch. 

49 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Now for still quicker work. Every man 
had been drilled and knew exactly what to do. 
Kegs of powder and oakum soaked in oil were 
quickly passed up from the ketch and carried 
below decks. Cannon were dragged amid- 
ships and pointed down the main hatch. In 
ten minutes everything was ready. 

^^ Start the fires/ ^ came the command. 

A puff here and there, a little smoke, a 
crackling, and a hissing. Another moment 
and the flames burst forth. 

Quick and sharp the order rang out, ^^Cast 
off ; every man to the ketch ! '' 

Decatur was the last to leave the doomed 
frigate. The Intrepid had begun to move 
away, and to save himself he had to jump 
into the rigging. There was a delay for a 
moment. The hawser which the Tripolitans 
had thrown to the ketch still held her. It 
was a moment of peril. The gunpowder on 
the deck was only covered with canvas, and 
the flames were streaming out of the port- 
holes. Decatur cut the hawser with his 

50 



DECATUR BURNS THE PHILADELPHIA 

sword, and the Intrepid drifted away. The 
men bent to their oars and pulled for their 
lives. 

The flames lit up the whole harbor. The 
Intrepid was brought into plain view. She 
was the target for the cannon. Grape shot 
and cannon balls from the fort on the shore 
whizzed through the air and threw up the 
spray as they struck the water. The Tri- 
politans were too excited to shoot accurately. 
Not a shot struck. One shot whizzed through 
the mainsail of the ketch. Soon the little 
vessel and her crew were safe under the guns 
of the Siren. 

^^Oh, but it was a glorious sight. What a 
bonfire she made!'^ and Decatur, begrimed 
with powder, sprang on board the brig. 

Indeed, it was a superb sight. The flames 
burst out of the frigate and ran up the masts 
and rigging and lighted up the sky with a 
lurid glow. One by one the cannon became 
heated and went off. There was a mighty 
puff of fire and smoke, and a noise Uke a 

51 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

thousand cannon, when the magazine ex- 
ploded. Countless burning fragments of the 
vessel fell like so many rockets into the 
sea. The Philadelphia was no more. 

Decatur took the greatest risk, but his 
cool-headed leadership and the fine discipline 
of his men won success. And well did Ad- 
miral Nelson, England^s greatest naval com- 
mander, speak of the exploit as ^Hhe most 
bold and daring act of the age.'' 

When only twenty-five years old, although 
the youngest officer of his rank in the navy, 
Decatur received the command of ^^Old 
Ironsides,'' which was called the finest frigate 
in the world. 



52 



V 

SOMERS, TH]fe SCHOOLBOY CAPTAIN 

^'T"^vON'T you see now/' said Richard 
I i Somers, a young naval officer, to his 
best friend, Stephen Decatur, ^^it is 
a scheme that may mean Hberty to four hun- 
dred of our shipmates shut up in yonder stone 
prison. Do you think I should stop for one 
moment if there were a bit of chance for 
success?'' 

''No indeed, I 'm sure you wouldn't." 
''I should say not," continued Somers. 
''Just think of my plan. There would be two 
boats to tow the fireship into the harbor, four 
men in my boat, and six in another, with only 
one officer besides myself, twelve men in all 
to risk their lives. Oh, what a chance, my 
dear Decatur, to serve our country!" 

Somers explained his plan. Like a true 
53 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

friend, Decatur told him the weak points of 
it. The longer they talked, the more grave 
became Decatur, while Somers, usually sober 
and sedate, grew more gay. The two young 
captains were having this talk on board a 
little war vessel named the Nautilus. 

^^Come,'' said Decatur, ^4t is getting late. 
Let us row over to the flagship and lay your 
plan before Commodore Preble.'' 

This was not long after the burning of the 
Philadelphia, and the crews were still talking 
about it. Of course the other young captains 
were eager to rival Decatur's desperate ex- 
ploit. To destroy the enemy's warships in 
the harbor of Tripoli, to shatter the pasha's 
city, and perhaps to rescue Captain Bain- 
bridge and his men meant glory and pro- 
motion. It might also mean failure and 
death. 

''And what have you in mind?" asked 
Commodore Preble, when the two young 
officers were seated in his cabin. 

Somers took out some charts and notes, 
54 




YES," SAID COMMODORE PREBLE; "BUT SUPPOSE 
THE PIRATES CATCH YOU?" Page 55. 



and after explaining them said, ^^On the first 
dark night I would take a vessel like the 
Intrepid, put gunpowder and shells on board, 
tow her into the harbor, and set her afire 
among the shipping/' 

''Yes,'' said Commodore Preble; ''but 
suppose the pirates catch you, and the gun- 
powder falls into their hands ? They are now 
short of powder, and this would be enough 
to prolong the war for a whole year. What 
do you say. Captain Somers?" 

"I have thought of that. If the pirates 
capture the Intrepid, they will never capture 
the powder. I will blow up the vessel. I 
will take no man with me who is not willing 
to die rather than let the enemy use the 
powder against our fleet." 

"It is a great responsibility for so young a 
man as you are, Captain Somers. Are you 
sure that you wish to take it?" 

"Certainly I am. Sir, is it a greater re- 
sponsibility than my friend here, Captain 
Decatur, took when he led seventy-five men 

55 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

into the jaws of death to set the Philadelphia 
afire?'' 

Commodore Preble, nicknamed ^^Old Pep- 
per'' on account of his quick temper, began 
to wipe his eyes and blow his nose. Sud- 
denly he grabbed the hand of each of his two 
young officers. 

'^Boys, when I first met you at this table 
I was vexed because you looked so young. 
I called you my ^schoolboy captains.' For- 
give me, young men. I'll never call you so 
again. Go on with your plan, Captain 
Somers. You have my permission and my 
blessing for your success." 

These words of praise from the stern, hot- 
tempered, old commodore deeply moved the 
young men. 

^^You see, sir," said Decatur, ^'it is be- 
cause we have had such a good schoolmaster 
in the art of war." 

Early the next morning the Intrepid was 
brought alongside the flagship. The men were 
soon busy passing gunpowder and shells aboard 

56 



SOMERS, THE SCHOOLBOY CAPTAIN 

the little vessel. They knew well enough that 
some desperate undertaking was at hand. 

In the cabin of the Nautilus young Somers 
was arranging his private affairs, making his 
will, and writing several letters of farewell to 
his friends at home. 

It was four o'clock in the afternoon. A 
call was to be made for volunteers. Decatur, 
usually so calm and cool in the hour of peril 
and desperate risk, was sad and nervous. 
For hours he had been pacing up and down 
the deck of ^^ Old Ironsides." 

^^Pipe all hands aft on deck,'' was the 
order. A few minutes more, and eighty men 
of the Nautilus were reported ^^up and aft." 

^^My men," said Captain Somers, with a 
glitter in his eyes and a glow on his face, 
'^yonder is the Intrepid. Well is she named 
since Decatur's glorious deed. She has on 
board one hundred barrels of powder, one 
hundred shells, and barrels of pitch. To- 
night she is to be towed into the harbor of 
Tripoli and set on fire among the shipping. 

57 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

I need four men to go with me. I have the 
honor to lead you. Remember, men, the 
Intrepid will not be captured. These four 
men must be ready to die for their country. 
Are you ready? If so, hold up the right 
hand and say ^Ay.''' 

Quick and sharp came the reply. Every 
man of the Nautilus held up his right hand 
and shouted ^^Ay, ay, sir!'^ 

The sailors cheered with a hearty good will 
as the four men chosen by their young cap- 
tain came forward and shook hands with him. 

Late that afternoon the men who were to 
go on the Intrepid were mustered on the 
quarter-deck of ^^Old Ironsides.'^ With tears 
rolling down his cheeks the stern old com- 
modore made a short speech. 

^^I must tell you plainly, men, that the 
pirates are not to get hold of that powder. 
With fear and pride I send you out. Every 
man of you from Captain Somers has volun- 
teered. You know the risk. May you win. 
May you come back safe and sound.'' 

58 



SOMERS, THE SCHOOLBOY CAPTAIN 

The men on ^^Old Ironsides" manned the 
yards and cheered. The young captains 
chatted while they waited for the darkness 
which was now fast coming on. 

Decatur was sad and silent. He felt that 
he and his friend were never to meet again. 
But Somers wore his same sweet smile. 

He said to Decatur, as he was bidding him 
good-by, ^'If we never meet again, keep this 
half of my ring. I '11 put the other half in 
the pocket of my jacket — I need not ask 
you — " He could say no more. He was 
quickly rowed back to his vessel, where he 
shut himself up in his cabin and burst into 
tears. 

It was now dark. The hulls and spars of 
the ships loomed up through the mist. 
Somers went aboard the Intrepid. Soon the 
little fireship, with every sail set to catch the 
breeze, was cutting the dark water. 

Helped by wind and tide, the vessel soon 
made the western entrance of the harbor. 
Far away in the mist could be seen the grim 

59 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

stone forts and the twinkling lights of the 
city. At anchor near the entrance of the 
inner harbor lay three gunboats of the enemy. 
They looked like great shadows. 

The breeze had died out. The men took 
to their boats and began to tow the Intrepid. 
With muffled oars they crept past the rocks 
and reefs. Soon they came within the outer 
harbor of Tripoli. Grim and silent stood the 
stone towers of the pasha^s castle. The sky 
above was clear, and stars shone out like 
diamonds. A fog that lay on the water hid 
the Intrepid as she crept into the inner 
harbor. 

All of a sudden the dark forms of three 
gunboats loomed out of the fog. The men 
in the boats grabbed the tow lines and pulled 
themselves back to the Intrepid. Quickly 
the pirate gunboats closed in on the little 
vessel, and the alarm was quickly spread. 

With a torch in his hand Captain Somers 
rose on the deck. 

"Men, are you ready ?^' 
60 



/ 

SOMERS, THE SCHOOLBOY CAPTAIN 

'^Ay, ay, sir/' 

^^Then may God bless our country. May 
He have mercy on us/' 

He threw his torch on the train of gun- 
powder that led to the magazine, and leaped 
into his boat. In another moment there 
came an explosion which seemed to tear 
asunder the sea and sky. The castle trembled, 
and vessels in the harbor careened and were 
nearly swamped. The sky was Ughted up 
with a glare that was seen for miles. 

Amid the frightful roar and crash the sail 
and mast of the ill-fated Intrepid were seen 
for a moment like a huge rocket blazing in 
the sky, and then fell into the sea. All was 
now silence and darkness. 

Not a man on the American fleet slept 
that night. Guns were fired every few 
minutes in the hope that at least one on 
board the Intrepid had escaped death. Dur- 
ing the long hours Decatur swung on the 
forechains of his vessel and flashed a lantern 
across the water. He listened for the signal 

61 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

agreed on, and watched for some sign from 
the dear friend of his youth. 

At daybreak the smaller vessels of the fleet 
ran in where they had a view of the harbor. 
Not a sign of the Intrepid or of her two 
boats, or even of a spar, was to be seen. 

The next day Captain Bainbridge was 
allowed to leave his stone prison and see the 
mangled bodies that came ashore. 

Outside the walls of Tripoh, near a little 
clump of trees, the remains of the brave 
sailors were laid to rest. Cheerfully they 
gave up their lives in a desperate exploit. 
They died in the service of their country. 
It was the best they could do. 



62 



VI 

MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

DID you ever watch boys on a warm 
sunny day sail their toy ships on a 
pond? With a Ught wind one Httle 
vessel without a captain or crew sails 
smoothly across the water and safely reaches 
a harbor. A sudden gust of wind strikes an- 
other little ship and drives it ashore, a total 
wreck. Shifting breezes now and then send 
another toy craft first this way and then 
that, up and down the pond. In vain the 
boys try to rescue the vessel. At last, as it 
grows dark, the young ship owner gives it up 
as a bad job and starts for home, leaving his 
pet vessel sailing about on the tiny ocean. 

So it is with many vessels that without 
captain or crew sail to and fro on the great 
sea. Such waifs that thread their way over 

63 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the pathless deep are called '^derehcts/' 
which means abandoned vessels. Every cap- 
tain knows of them and fears them as one of 
the greatest perils on the ocean. For months, 
and sometimes for years, the storm-tossed 
hulks of vessels whose crews have long since 
gone to death drift about at the mercy of 
wind and wave. 

Twenty-four years ago the good ship 
Fannie E. Woolstein was wrecked on our 
coast, drifted across the Atlantic Ocean to 
England, and thence along the western coast 
of Europe. Finally, after sailing across the 
Atlantic again, she was cast ashore only a few 
miles north of the point where she first went 
adrift. In her phantom travels, without cap- 
tain or crew, she had sailed more than ten 
thousand miles. 

Another notable derelict was the Alma 
Cummings. Some twenty years ago she was 
wrecked off the coast of North Carolina. 
After a week of terrible suffering, the crew 
were taken off. The vessel went adrift, and 

64 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

was reported many times. At last, after 
keeping afloat for almost two years, and sail- 
ing more than five thousand miles, she went 
ashore near the Isthmus of Panama. 

Think of the wanderings of the little 
schooner B. R. Woodside. She began her 
career as a derelict off the coast of Georgia, 
drifted off to Europe, turned near the Canary 
Islands, and then drifted back within twenty 
miles of the place where she was wrecked. 
Again she zigzagged across the Atlantic, 
and was at last towed to one of the West 
India Islands. She had been reported by 
forty sea captains. 

The four-masted schooner George B. Tay- 
lor was run down and cut in two by an ocean 
finer. Strange to say, both bow and stern 
kept afloat. The stern drifted north and 
went ashore on the coast of Maine, while 
the bow sailed south and drifted on the beach 
off the coast of South Carolina. 

One of the most notable of the later dere- 
ficts was the Norwegian bark Crown, which 

65 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

was abandoned in midocean at Christmas, 
1909. Loaded with lumber, she kept afloat 
easily. For a hundred and eighteen days 
she was reported frequently, and had drifted 
some two thousand miles, when she finally 
lost herself in the weedy confines of the 
Sargasso Sea, the graveyard of scores of these 
forgotten ships. 

Sailors take dereficts as a matter of course. 
The battered hulks and shattered masts of 
these phantom wanderers are grim reminders 
of the ever present dangers of sailing the 
great ocean. But an abandoned vessel is 
something quite different. The sea-faring 
man cannot understand why a ship in good 
order should be given up until the last hope 
is gone. The mystery usually linked with 
the fate of such a vessel makes her story one 
of the most thrilling in a sailor's life. 

A strange tale is that told about the Glori- 
ana. Through many years there have arisen 
so many different stories that it is hard to 
sift the facts from fiction. 

66 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

Nearly forty years ago the captain of a 
Greenland whaler, who was dodging his way 
through the ice fields of the arctic regions, 
spied before him what seemed to be a spectral 
brig, picking her way through a narrow 
channel between two large icebergs. 

Her rigging was a hopeless tangle. Her 
frozen sails were hanging in shreds, her 
decks were piled high with the snows of 
many seasons. Her hulk was sheeted in 
glittering white. It was a frightful sight, 
but the Greenlander at last got up courage 
enough to go aboard. 

While he pulled himself up to the deck, 
he stopped to peer in at one of the portholes. 
There he saw a man seated before the cabin 
table. The log book lay before him, and in his 
clenched hand was a pen. The man was dead. 

When the Greenlander looked at the log, 
he found that the last entry, made while 
the captain was awaiting death, was dated 
November 11, 1862. For thirteen years the 
Gloriana had been winding in and out among 

67 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the ice floes with no hand to guide her. Not 
far from the captain were found several other 
bodies, one of them being that of a woman. 

Another strange story is that of the brig 
Marie Celeste. More than forty years have 
passed since this vessel was discovered on 
her lonely voyage, and yet nobody has ever 
been able to solve the mystery of what hap- 
pened to her. The Celeste sailed from New 
York in the year 1872, with a cargo of kero- 
sene and alcohol for a little port in Italy. 
Captain Briggs was in command. His wife 
and little daughter sailed with him. The 
brig was in the best of order, well manned, 
and well equipped. About a month after 
sailing from New York she was picked up 
by the brig Gloria Dei, off the Azores, aim- 
lessly drifting about in Hght winds. 

The upper sails had been clewed up, as 
if the intention had been to stow them. 
The full lower canvas was properly set. 
Under this she moved along in the calm 
water as silently as a phantom ship. Not 

68 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

a sail, sheet, or halyard was missing. Her 
perfect condition created more fear among 
our sailors than if she had shown signs of 
human conflict, or ordinary breakage from 
stress of weather. 

Now, as we have just said, a vessel in 
midocean, in broad dayhght and in good 
weather, slowly saiUng along unguided by 
human hand, is an uncanny sight. It re- 
minds you, somehow, of those stories of 
cavalrymen sitting erect in their saddles 
and riding on in battle after they have been 
shot dead. 

With fear and trembHng the first mate of 
the Gloria Dei had a grappling iron thrown 
into the main rigging of the stranger, and 
chmbed on board. The stern of the boat 
was gone, but otherwise everything looked 
as if the crew were still there. Her running 
rigging was all properly made fast and the 
slack coiled neatly on the decks. i 

Rushing to the companionway, the mate 
shouted, ''Ahoy, there! Below, there!" 

69 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

On that day the ocean was almost as still 
as a mill pond, and silence reigned in the 
vessel. The hollow echoes of the mate's 
voice, coming from the interior, seemed more 
horrible than screams or groans. He was 
himself startled, and was in no hurry to 
descend, but gave the order to heave to. 

After they had slacked the head sheets and 
swung the mainyard, he and his men went 
down the companionway. The captain's gold 
watch hung beside the cabin clock. Below, 
in the small saloon, a cloth was spread on 
the table. Dinner was served and partly 
eaten. Among other things was a pair of 
roast chickens, which were partly carved and 
still fresh. 

The weather had been so calm that dishes 
and cups of tea had remained where they 
were last placed by human hands. The 
meal had been abandoned when half over. 

Farther on, in the corner, was a sewing 
machine. Under its needle was a child's 
cotton dress, in which a seam had been half 

70 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

sewed. On the edge of the machine rested a 
woman's thimble. 

They entered the small staterooms cau- 
tiously, expecting to find dead bodies in the 
bunks. But, no ! Neither death nor life 
was there. The rooms were in a condition 
as if their occupants had just left them. 
Half-turned music lay on the rack of the 
little cabinet organ, and the toys of the cap- 
tain's child were scattered about. In the 
wife's room the impress of the child's head 
was distinct on the pillow. 

Of course the men of the Gloria Dei ex- 
pected those who had thus left things would 
come out from some place of hiding and 
make explanation. The mind refused to be- 
lieve that they were all dead. 

Suddenly the chief mate rushed upstairs 
crying, ^^I know where they are. There has 
been a mutiny, and the captain and his family 
are locked up in the forecastle." 

They mounted to the deck, and rushed 
forward to the seamen's quarters. Here they 

71 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

found another half-consumed meal. Neither 
forward nor aft, nor anywhere else did they 
find a human being, nor any sign of bloodshed 
or violence. 

There was not even a sign of disorder or 
haste. The men's chests had not been dis- 
turbed. The binnacle and chronometer were 
in perfect condition. The other compasses 
were in their places. Chickens and ducks 
in coops under one of the boats were all alive, 
though sickly for want of water. But of 
human life there was none. 

The mate then examined the ship's papers, 
for nothing was locked up. The ship's name, 
as we have said, was the Marie Celeste, 
bound from New York to a little port on the 
Mediterranean. She had a valuable cargo, 
and the log book showed that the voyage 
had been quiet and easy. The last entry 
in it had been made only forty-two hours 
before. Those final words were not without 
pathos. They made a single line and read, 
^^ Fanny, my dear wife." Whether the words 

72 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

were written merely in remembrance of a 
distant loved one or in the depths of despair, 
it is impossible to say. 

The money chest, in which a considerable 
sum was found, was intact, as was also the 
cargo, showing that piracy was not to be 
thought of in searching for a solution of the 
mystery. 

The log book also showed that thirteen 
persons, including the captain's wife and 
child, had sailed from New York. Not one 
of those thirteen has ever been heard of 
since. 

A crew was put on board the Celeste, and 
the ship was towed into port. When her 
cargo was disposed of, she sailed back to 
her owners in New York. 

The United States authorities took up the 
case and had the consuls inform foreign 
governments of the facts, in the hope that 
some explanation might be found. But all 
inquiries were in vain. 

In after years it was difficult to procure 
73 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

crews for the ill-fated vessel. No sailors 
except those who were free from superstition 
or ignorant of her history would ship aboard 
her. She was employed between New York 
and Cuba. It was her fate to be wrecked 
on the Cuban coast. 

How those thirteen persons were spirited 
away from a perfectly able and well-appointed 
ship, during calm weather, will probably 
never be known. The story as it now stands, 
with its facts proved in a court of law, is 
one of the most mysterious of all the tales of 
the deep. 

There have been numerous theories offer- 
ing a solution, but none that is convincing. 
There was talk of pirates, but there was no 
looting. There was a story that the captain 
and crew had put off in a boat and got lost 
in fog, but there were no fogs. One of the 
owners of the vessel thought that the alcohol 
escaped from the casks and generated a gas 
which exploded, frightening Briggs and his 
men into abandoning the ship. Even that 

74 



MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 

explanation is purely a matter of guesswork. 
The riddle of the Marie Celeste remains 
unsolved. 

The story of an old sea captain whose vessel 
was near the Marie Celeste is interesting and 
gives a reasonable solution of the mystery. 

He said that about noon of the day preced- 
ing the discovery of the Marie Celeste there 
was a black cloud seen off to the southeast, 
in the direction of the abandoned vessel, 
during a dead calm. His idea was that the 
people of the Marie Celeste saw a waterspout 
coming directly toward their vessel, and 
being unable to sail in the calm, rushed to 
their boat and rowed away to escape destruc- 
tion. 

^^It may be,^' he said, ^Hhat the waterspout 
veered in its course, as they frequently do, 
and destroyed the boat while sparing the 
ship.'^ 

^^But,^' he added, ^^in a matter of this sort, 
where no reason can be found for acting in 
an unheard of way, I generally put it down 

75 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

to somebody's insanity. Suppose the cap- 
tain, having gone mad, summoned all hands 
from dinner, and after telling them that the 
ship was sinking, ordered them into a boat. 
Without counting his wife and child, there 
were only ten others. Under the muzzle 
of a revolver they could not refuse, during 
calm weather, to descend into the small 
boat. He might then have forced them to 
row away, and the boat, with all on board, 
might have been lost. But imagine what 
we may, the mystery remains unexplained. '^ 



76 



VII 

r\ 
A DUEL AT SEA 

DURING the War of 1812 there took 
place, off the coast of Massachusetts, 
the famous and ill-fated duel be- 
tween the American frigate -Chesapeake and 
the British frigate Shannon. In this fight 
Captain Lawrence lost both his vessel and 
his life, because in his zeal to do his whole 
duty he made a mistake. 

James Lawrence was, as we have read, one 
of Commodore Preble's ^^ schoolboy captains.'' 
At seventeen he became a midshipman, and 
at nineteen was put in command of a gun- 
boat. He was second in command to De- 
catur when that officer captured and de- 
stroyed the Philadelphia under the walls of 
Tripoli. At twenty-seven he was first lieu- 
tenant of ^^Old Ironsides," and at twenty- 

77 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

nine he commanded the Hornet. In this 
vessel a little later he captured the British 
brig Peacock after a brisk battle of less than 
fifteen minutes. For this victory Congress 
gave him a medal, a sword of honor, and 
made him a captain. By the irony of a 
cruel fate he was given, much against his 
will, the command of the frigate Chesapeake, 
then being refitted in Boston. 

Now sailors are on the lookout for all 
manner of signs of ill or good luck. The 
Chesapeake had been an unlucky vessel. She 
was a slow sailer and unfortunate in captur- 
ing prizes. At this time she had just arrived 
from a long cruise, with a few worthless 
prizes, while much smaller and poorer vessels 
were gaining for themselves fame and riches. 
She was now blockaded in Boston Harbor 
by two British frigates. Captain Lawrence 
had asked for the command of ^^Old Iron- 
sides,^' but was given the Chesapeake. 

'^The Chesapeake is a worthless ship,'' he 
said to his friends; ^^I would not take com- 

78 



A DUEL AT SEA 

mand of her if I could well refuse. This I 
cannot do.'' 

At the time of our story Lawrence had 
been in command of this unpopular vessel 
for only ten days. They were days of trouble 
and anxiety. The best sailors did not care 
to enlist on his ship. They hated her and 
would not sail on her if they could help it. 
Many privateers were being fitted out. Men 
were glad to ship in these vessels, for the 
discipline was easy and the prize money sure. 

As a result, the crew for the Chesapeake 
was made up of men of several races and 
colors, with forty British sailors and a num- 
ber of Portuguese. A leader of these Portu- 
guese, a boatswain's mate, proved the worst 
of the lot. He almost brought about a 
mutiny in a dispute over unpaid prize money. 
Then some of the old sailors from the last 
cruise claimed they had been cheated, and 
were ugly and sullen. Besides, all the officers 
except one had been recently promoted and 
were new to the vessel. Captain Lawrence 

79 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

himself was new to his officers, to his crew, 
and to his ship.!"^ 

When Lawrence stepped on deck, some of 
the crew were coming aboard for the first 
time; others were standing in groups, not 
knowing their duties or not caring to do 
them. With his usual fiery energy he set 
about to make ready for what he knew must 
be a fierce combat. 

As for the Shannon, she was called one of 
the crack frigates of the British navy. For 
seven years she had been under the com- 
mand of Captain Broke, an officer of long 
experience and of great skill and energy. 
A fearless and able officer, he fought with a 
desire to gain glory and a great name for 
himself. To this intent he had sent away 
the line-of-battle ship, the Tenedos, that 
he alone might fight with the Chesapeake. 

The gunners on the Shannon were in the 
highest state of discipline and efficiency. 
We are told that Captain Broke would often 
order a cask to be thrown overboard and 

80 



A DUEL AT SEA 

have a gunner's crew sink it as it bobbed 
about on the waves. Extra rations were 
served out to the crew that hit it first. The 
men were also drilled in firing at targets with 
muskets. A pound of tobacco was given 
to every man who hit the bull's-eye. 

Such was the British warship that lay 
outside of Boston Harbor in the early summer 
of 1813. Captain Broke was eager to test 
his vessel against the Chesapeake, and sent 
a challenge, written in the formal and stilted 
wording of the time. This challenge showed 
him to be a fair and honorable man. He 
gave a careful statement of the guns and 
equipment of the Shannon, to assure Law- 
rence that the two frigates were fairly 
matched. He said he should be pleased to 
meet the Chesapeake at any time within 
two months. With the usual ill-luck that 
attended the Chesapeake, this challenge, sent 
by the way of Salem, did not reach Boston 
until Captain Lawrence had sailed out to 
meet the enemy. 

81 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

On the first day of June, the Shannon had 
sailed into the entrance of Boston Harbor, 
flying signals of defiance. Lawrence took the 
appearance of the Shannon as a challenge, 
and had no desire to decline battle. 

It was a sad mistake. Lawrence knew 
that the Chesapeake was in no condition 
for the duel. If he had received the written 
challenge, the combat could honorably have 
been postponed for at least two months, and 
his green crew might have been taught 
something. 

In spite of the warnings of Commodore 
Bainbridge and other veteran naval officers. 
Captain Lawrence, in a moment of over- 
confidence, hoisted anchor and stood out of 
Boston Harbor to meet the enemy. A large 
fleet of smaller pleasure craft followed, filled 
with people from Boston and neighboring 
towns who were eager to see the battle. 

While the Chesapeake was making her way 
down the harbor, Lawrence had a fiag hoisted 
on which was painted the motto ^^Free Trade 

82 



A DUEL AT SEA 

and Sailors^ Rights." He made a short 
speech to his men, but they were in no mood 
to hear it. Only a faint cheer was raised 
as they went back to their places. 

The Chesapeake was cleared for action. 
The Shannon, sailing close to the wind, was 
waiting for her. Both frigates now sailed 
to a point about thirty miles off Boston 
Light, between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. 

When the two vessels came together, 
Lawrence was in a position to rake the 
Shannon. This he did not do. Why he 
failed to do so, is not known. About six 
o'clock in the afternoon the two warships 
were alongside each other and about one 
hundred and fifty feet apart. The Shannon 
fired her first broadside, which the Chesa- 
peake immediately answered. The effect on 
the American ship, at short range and in 
calm weather, was something frightful. The 
deck was littered with a mass of tangled 
rigging, splinters, and hammocks, mingled 
with men, killed and wounded. Three men 

83 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

at the wheel were shot down. With sails 
riddled, the ill-fated frigate was raked again 
and again. Lawrence was shot in the leg. 
Leaning against a mast he stayed on deck 
and directed the battle. Most of the under 
officers were wounded. English marines in 
the tops, armed with hand grenades, picked 
off the gunners. 

The fluke of an anchor on the Shannon 
caught in the rigging of the Chesapeake. 
The two ships could not drift apart. 

^^ Boarders away! Call up the boarders! 
Boarders away!^^ shouted Lawrence. 

The boatswain was mortally wounded. 
The bugler, a negro, nearly scared to death, 
had hidden under a boat. When pulled 
out, he could not sound a note. Standing 
on deck in full uniform, the gallant Lawrence 
was an easy mark for the enemy's sharp- 
shooters. An officer of the marines on the 
Shannon caught sight of the white vest of 
the American captain. He snatched a mus- 
ket from a marine and fired. Captain 

84 



A DUEL AT SEA 

Lawrence fell to the deck, shot through the 
body. Limp and dying he was carried below. 

^^Tell the men to fire faster/' said the 
wounded officer, in a steady voice. ^^ Fight 
until she sinks or strikes her colors. Don't 
give up the ship." 

The scene on the decks of the Chesapeake 
was something frightful. In a panic the 
men did not stand by their guns. 

^^So much for not paying men their prize 
money/' shouted one of the cowardly fellows, 
as they ran below. 

A sailor dropped a hand grenade from the 
yard of the Shannon. It fell into a chest 
on the quarter-deck of the Chesapeake. A 
roar like a thunder clap followed, and the 
deck was filled with flying splinters and 
wounded men. 

Captain Broke was quick to seize the 
advantage. Leading his boarders he sprang 
on the deck of the Chesapeake. The chap- 
lain, the only officer left, put up a stiff fight, 
and almost cut off Captain Broke's arm. 

85 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The few Americans in the crew fought bravely, 
but were all killed. 

At five minutes past six, just fifteen min- 
utes after the first gun was fired, the battle 
was over. There was no officer left to give 
up the Chesapeake. The British merely took 
possession. An officer of the British marines 
hauled down the flag. While he did so, a 
bullet from his own vessel killed him. 

Thus ended one of the most remarkable 
naval duels on record. It is hard to say 
what might have happened if the two frigates 
had not run foul of each other. They pre- 
sented a horrible sight after the battle. 
Said one old sailor: ^^They were crowded 
with the wounded and dying. They were 
like floating hospitals, giving forth groans 
at every roll of the ships.'' 

Meanwhile the dying Lawrence lay on a 
cot in the wardroom below. The noise of the 
confusion came to his ears. He sank back in 
a spasm of pain. ^^ Don't give up the ship! 
Don't give up the ship !" he whispered. 

86 



A DUEL AT SEA 

He lingered in great pain for four days and 
then died in silent anguish. 

Five days after the battle, the Shannon 
with her prize sailed into Halifax Harbor. 
The body of Lawrence, wrapped in the flag 
of his vessel, lay on the quarter-deck. 

Captain Lawrence and his first officer, 
Lieutenant Ludlow, who had also died of 
his wounds, were given a magnificent military 
funeral in Halifax. Afterwards their remains 
were brought to New York and buried with 
imposing naval honors in Trinity churchyard. 

James Lawrence was only thirty-two years 
old when he died. Half his fife had been 
passed in the service of his country. He 
was a man of noble personal appearance and 
a superb sailor, beloved by all for his gener- 
osity and kindness of heart. His dying 
words, ''Don't give up the ship,'' served 
for many years as a watchword for our navy. 



87 



VIII 

THE ENTERPRISE AND THE BOXER 

OUR war with the Barbary pirates, a 
little over a hundred years ago, was 
a fine training school for our naval 
officers. In our second war with Great 
Britain many of these men rendered a splen- 
did service to their country. 

Of the many warships of that time no 
vessel of her size had a more brilliant record 
than the Enterprise. This httle twelve-gun 
schooner was a lucky boat. Indeed, she was 
nicknamed the ^^ Lucky Little Enterprise.^' 

It is no wonder that the Enterprise gave a 
good account of herself. Think of the gal- 
lant young officers who commanded her. 
There were sturdy Isaac Hull, with whose 
deeds we are familiar, and Stephen Decatur, 
whom we have just read about. Then there 
were James Lawrence, who lost his life on 

88 



THE ENTERPRISE AND THE BOXER 

the deck of the ill-fated Chesapeake, and 
Thomas MacDonough, who won the glorious 
victory on Lake Champlain. Among other 
captains of the Enterprise was Charles 
Stewart, who, in command of ^^Old Iron- 
sides,'' captured two British frigates in one 
of the most skillful naval battles ever fought. 

There is not time now to tell you of the 
many daring adventures and thrilling escapes 
of the Enterprise in her service in the West 
Indies, in the short war between the United 
States and France, and still later in the 
hand-to-hand fight with the Barbary pirates 
on the coast of Africa. Our present story is 
about the battle between the Enterprise and 
His Britannic Majesty's brig named the 
Boxer. 

Our second war with Great Britain began 
in the summer of 1812. Every effort was 
made to put our navy in good order. The 
Enterprise was rigged as a brig and armed 
with fourteen 18-pound cannon, and two 
larger guns called Long Toms. She was 

89 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

manned with a crew of one hundred men. 
A young lieutenant named WiUiam Bur- 
roughs was put in command. He was only 
twenty-eight years old, but he had already 
won fame in the war with the Barbary states, 
and had become a skillful sailor. He had 
orders to sail along the coast and keep a 
lookout for English privateers. 

On September 1st, 1813, Burroughs sailed 
from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in search 
of several British privateers that had been 
reported off the coast of Maine. Early on 
the morning of the third day he sighted a 
brig inshore getting under way. This 
proved to be the British ship Boxer. The 
Enterprise was at once cleared for action. 
The Boxer fired several guns as if in challenge, 
and stood out to sea. 

At this time the Long Tom was one of the 
most effective cannon used in naval battles. 
Burroughs gave orders that one of these 
should be brought up and run out of a stern 
port in the main cabin. The carpenter cut 

90 



THE ENTERPRISE AND THE BOXER 

away the woodwork to give a better elevation 
to the gun. Some of the crew grumbled that 
their commander intended to run away from 
the enemy and use the stern chaser as a 
defense. 

'^Yonder/' replied Burroughs, ^^is one of 
the finest ships in the British navy. Rest 
easy, men. Before sunset you will have 
all the fighting you want." 

The wind had died away. For six hours 
or more the two brigs drifted about in a 
calm. Meanwhile the officers of the two 
vessels were watching each other through 
their glasses. All were eager for battle the 
moment they should get within pistol shot. 

About the middle of the afternoon a light 
breeze sprang up. In silence the two war- 
ships came nearer and nearer. The young 
commander of the Enterprise was walking 
to and fro alone on the quarter-deck. 

The two vessels were soon within range. 
The men on the Boxer cheered and fired a 
broadside. The Enterprise returned the 

91 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

cheers and also fired a broadside. The battle 
now became general. The Enterprise drew 
ahead and ran across the enemy's bow. 
Bang, bang! spoke the Long Tom at short 
range, with telling effect. The vessels again 
exchanged broadsides. Again the Enterprise 
ran across the enemy's bow and raked her 
with the Long Tom. Down came the Boxer's 
main topmast, bringing with it the topsail 
yards. The Enterprise now held her position 
and kept up her fire for some twelve minutes. 

Burroughs saw with pride the discipline 
and the accurate firing of his men. He 
turned to speak to his first officer, Lieutenant 
McCall. 

^^See how the boys are hulling the Boxer. '^ 

At this moment a canister shot struck him 
in the hip, and he fell, mortally wounded. 
He refused to be taken from the deck. 

^^ Don't carry me below. Never strike that 
flag," he said to McCall. 

The dying commander was laid on deck, 
with a hammock placed beneath his head. 

92 



THE ENTERPRISE AND THE BOXER 

McCall now took command. This young 
officer, only twenty-three years old, had 
never before so much as seen a battle. But 
he was equal to the occasion, and fought 
with great skill. 

At four o'clock the Boxer became silent. 
Her colors were still flying at her masthead. 

^^Stop firing. We have surrendered, '^ came 
a voice through the smoke. 

McCall gave orders to cease fighting. 

^^Why don't you haul down your colors?" 
he shouted. 

^^We can't; they are nailed to the mast." 

A boat was lowered from the Enterprise, 
and McCall soon reached the deck of the 
Boxer. He found that her commander, Cap- 
tain Blythe, was dead, almost cut in two by a 
shot. 

This Captain Blythe was a brave and gal- 
lant officer, and only twenty-nine years of 
age. A few weeks before, he had been one 
of the pallbearers, in Halifax, at the funeral 
of Captain James Lawrence. Perhaps he 

93 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

had had in mind the good fortune of the 
Shannon, for he said just before his death 
that he hoped ^Ho lead another captured 
Yankee into Hahfax Harbor/^ 

Back came Lieutenant McCall with Cap- 
tain Blythe's sword and put it in the hands 
of Lieutenant Burroughs. 

'^ Sir, you have only a few hours to live,'' 
said the surgeon. 

The young commander grasped the sword 
and pressed it to his breast. ^^Now I am 
satisfied; I die content.'' 

A few hours later his body was laid out in 
his cabin, covered with the flag for which 
he had given his life. ^^A sweet smile was 
on his lips," as one of his officers wrote to 
his wife. 

In a short time the Enterprise and the 
Boxer reached Portland. The bodies of the 
two commanders were brought on shore, 
and guns were fired from the vessels in the 
harbor. The one burial ceremony served 
for both. A long procession of military and 

94 



THE ENTERPRISE AND THE BOXER 

civic officers marched slowly through the 
streets of the city. The officers and crews 
of the Enterprise and the Boxer acted as 
mourners. 

With all the honors of war the two com- 
manders were buried side by side. 

Just off Congress Street, one of the busy 
thoroughfares of this lovely city, may still 
be seen the monuments erected to these 
brave men. The memorials are of brick 
and red sandstone, covered with marble 
slabs setting forth in the quaint language of 
the time the deeds of the two gallant young 
officers. The monument of Lieutenant Bur- 
roughs speaks of him as '^a, patriot, who, in 
the hour of peril, obeyed the loud summons 
of an injured country, and gallantly met, 
fought, and conquered the foeman.^' 



95 



IX 

THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

THOMAS MACDONOUGH was of 
Scotch descent. His ancestors had 
emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, 
and from there his grandfather came early 
to America. His father, a successful phy- 
sician, gave up his practice to serve as an 
officer during the Revolution. His brother 
served as a midshipman on the frigate Con- 
stellation, but lost a leg and was forced to 
resign from the service. 

It was no wonder, then, that MacDonough, 
a tall, slender, red-headed young fellow of 
seventeen, with plenty of Scotch-Irish fight 
and pluck in him, was glad to get an appoint- 
ment as a midshipman. He was sent to the 
Barbary coast, to serve on the Philadelphia 
under Commodore Bainbridge. 

96 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

Afterwards we find him on the ^^ Lucky 
Little Enterprise/^ under Decatur. In the 
many lively fights with the Barbary pirates 
the young midshipman was always found 
at the post of danger. When Decatur 
planned to destroy the Philadelphia, Mac- 
Donough was one of the eleven oflBicers chosen 
to take part in this glorious but desperate 
deed. 

Two years later, when he was only twenty- 
three, he was first lieutenant of the Siren, 
a brig which had seen notable service on the 
north coast of Africa. 

While the Siren was at anchor at Gibraltar, 
the young officer had a chance to show what 
stuff he was made of. One day when the 
captain was on shore, MacDonough saw a 
boat from a British frigate run up to an 
American merchant vessel close by and then 
put off with an extra man on board. 

^^So that's the game,'' he said to himself. 
'^They have impressed an American sailor 
from that brig," 

97 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

He quickly lowered the cutter and set off 
in pursuit. He overhauled the British boat 
under the bow of the frigate. Seizing the 
American sailor by the collar, he lifted him 
into his own boat, and was pulling back to 
the Siren before the British officers reahzed 
what had taken place. When the captain 
of the frigate was informed of the act, he 
was exceedingly angry. He ordered out his 
cutter and pulled to the Siren. 

MacDonough was calmly walking the 
quarter-deck. 

With great poHteness he asked the British 
captain into the cabin. This the latter re- 
fused, at the same time demanding the return 
of the sailor. He had a mind to take the 
man by force. He said he would haul the 
frigate alongside the Siren for that purpose. 

^^I will not give up this American sailor,'^ 
replied MacDonough; ''I look to the captain 
of my own vessel for orders.'' 

''I could blow you out of the water in three 

minutes." 

98 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

^^ Perhaps you could, but as long as the 
vessel floats I shall keep the man/^ 

^^You are young and indiscreet. If I had 
been in the boat, what would you have done ? ^' 

'^I would have taken the man or lost my 
me.'' 

^^What, sir! would you attempt to stop 
me, if I were now to impress men from that 
brig?'' 

^^I would. If you doubt it, you have only 
to try." 

The baffled officer' returned to his ship. 
Shortly afterward he was seen bearing down 
in the direction of the Siren. 

MacDonough ordered his boat manned and 
armed, got in, and was in readiness for pur- 
suit. The Enghshman took a circuit round 
the American brig, and went back to the 
frigate. 

After this incident, which made a great 
stir at the time in the various warships at 
Gibraltar, the British naval officers treated 
the American lieutenant with respect. 

99 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

During the summer of 1814, the last year 
of the War of 1812, it was plain that the 
British in Canada were planning an important 
military movement. They were getting ready 
to march down the old warpath and cut our 
young nation in two. You may remember 
that General Burgoyne had tried this thirty- 
seven years before and was forced to surrender 
at Saratoga. 

Large bodies of troops that had fought 
in the wars against Napoleon were now 
hurried to Canada. Sir George Prevost, the 
British commander, at the head of fourteen 
thousand veterans, began the invasion of 
New York by the western bank of Lake 
Champlain. His first move was to attack 
the forts round Plattsburg. General Ma- 
comb, the American commander, with a 
small body of regulars and a few thousand 
militia, awaited the advance. 

In this campaign, with Canada as a base, 
the control of Lake Champlain became a 
matter of great importance. If you will 

100 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

look on the map, you will see that this inland 
lake flanked the march of the invading army 
for more than a hundred miles. It was also 
the safest and quickest way to forward sup- 
plies to the army. With the control of the 
lake the way down the valley of the Hudson 
would be clear, and the march to New York 
City easy. If these plans worked out well, 
the struggling young nation would be at 
the mercy of the enemy. 

In the summer of 1814, MacDonough was 
given the command of the American naval 
forces on Lake Champlain. He was only 
thirty years of age. His rank was that of 
Heutenant, but by courtesy he was called 
commodore. Everybody said he was just the 
man to take command of the little squadron. 

The quiet shores of this beautiful inland 
lake became full of life. The young com- 
mander was at work building and equipping 
a fleet. Often he might have been seen 
handling the saw and broadax. Officers and 
men worked night and day with the greatest 

101 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

zeal. Timbers for a small frigate were cut 
in the forest. Within forty days the vessel 
was launched. The American fleet was now 
made up of the new flagship Saratoga, of 
twenty-six guns; the brig Eagle, of twenty 
guns ; the schooner Ticonderoga, of seventeen 
guns; the sloop Preble, of seven guns; and 
ten gunboats, carrying in all sixteen guns, 
and mainly handled with oars. 

Cannon for the vessels had to be dragged 
for many miles through the trackless wilder- 
ness. At one time the ox teams hauling the 
cables came to a standstill forty miles from 
the lake. Nobody knew what to do. At 
last an old sailor suggested that the cables 
should be unwound and carried on the 
shoulders of the men. This was slow and 
tedious work, but it was done. 

Meanwhile the British were busy. Cap- 
tain Downie, a young officer about thirty 
years old, was in command. He had for his 
flagship a newly built frigate named the 
Confiance, of thirty-nine guns. In his fleet 

102 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

were also the brig Linnet^ of sixteen guns; 
the sloops Chubb and Finch, of eleven guns 
each; and thirteen large gunboats armed 
i with one gun each. These vessels were 
manned by veteran sailors, many of whom 
had fought with Nelson at Trafalgar. 

In the first week of September, 1814, the 
fleets were ready to battle for the control of 
the lake. MacDonough chose to fight at 
anchor in Plattsburg Bay. He made a 
most excellent choice of position. He pre- 
pared for every possible risk. Each of his 
ships had anchors so arranged that by haul- 
ing or slacking off with cables the vessel 
could be turned in any direction. 

The sun rose bright and clear on that 
eventful Sunday morning, September 11, 1814. 
Early autumn with its magical foliage pre- 
sented a lovely scene along the shore of the 
lake. A gentle breeze ruffled the surface of 
the water at sunrise, and the British fleet began 
to beat slowly up toward Plattsburg Bay. 

On the American fleet all hands were called 
103 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

to muster. The American flag was run up. 
In the deep silence which precedes a battle 
at sea there was a rare scene. With his 
oJfBcers about him, and the men standing 
with bare heads, MacDonough knelt on the 
quarter-deck and read from the Book of 
Common Prayer the prayers appointed to 
be read before a battle at sea. The men 
now waited in grim silence. 

When the four large ships of the British 
fleet came near the American line, the Eagle 
fired a broadside, which fell short. The 
Linnet now came abreast of the Ticonderoga 
and fired a broadside. Every shot fell short 
except one, which smashed a hencoop on the 
deck of the schooner. 

As the story is told, the sailors on the 
Ticonderoga had a pet rooster in the coop. 
The bird, delighted to get free, flev/ to one 
of the guns, clapped his wings, and crowed 
lustily. The men laughed and gave three 
cheers. Then the rooster flew into the rig- 
ging and kept up his crowing while the enemy's 

104 



macdonough knelt on the quarter-deck and read 

FROM THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Page 104. 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

fleet was advancing. The sailors readily be- 
lieved that it meant victory. 

The Confiance came steadily on until 
almost abreast of the Saratoga. With his 
own hand MacDonough aimed and fired the 
first gun. The 24-pound cannon ball hit 
the English frigate, killed several men, carried 
away her wheel, and did other damage. 
The English flagship was raked again and 
again. She could not break through the 
American line. 

Downie now dropped anchor, took in sail, 
swung the flagship round, and at short range 
brought his broadside to bear on the Sara- 
toga. Over a hundred men on the American 
flagship fell. The shattered vessel reeled 
and shivered from the force of the shock. 
MacDonough returned the broadside in good 
earnest. The two flagships now fought in a 
deadly duel for two hours. 

Meanwhile, at the head of the Une the 
Linnet and the Chubb were fighting the 
Eagle. After a hard battle of an hour the 

105 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

Chubb was raked by the Eagle. Drifting 
helpless down the line, she was disabled by a 
24-pound shot from the Saratoga and forced 
to haul down her colors. 

While the duel was going on between the 
two flagships, the Linnet got across the 
bows of the Saratoga and began to rake her. 
On the other end of the line the little Preble 
was driven out of the battle by the fierce 
attack of the British gunboatg. The Finch 
was hammered by the larger Ticonderoga 
and forced to surrender. 

The thirty-one big guns of the Confiance 
had now put to silence the eight guns of the 
Saratoga. Hot cannon balls had twice set 
her afire. Every officer except MacDonough 
had been killed or wounded. Three times 
he had been knocked senseless by splinters 
and broken pieces of the yards. Three times 
he began fighting again none the worse ex- 
cept for cuts and bruises. It was indeed 
fortunate for the issue of the battle that he 
did not know when he was beaten. 

106 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

Every gun in the starboard battery of the 
Saratoga was useless. What was to be done? 
The Confiance was still pouring in her broad- 
sides. MacDonough now gave orders to turn 
the vessel round, so that he could use the 
other cannon. Under the galling fire of 
the enemy this difficult feat was done. A 
raking fire from the unused battery soon 
made a beginning of the end. Downie had 
been killed early in the battle. The officer 
who took his place tried to bring his ship 
about, but failed. The Eagle and the Sara- 
toga now raked the Confiance fore and aft. 

After two hours of bitter fighting the 
British flagship was forced to haul down her 
colors. The Confiance was a wreck. Not 
five men of her three hundred and fifty were 
left unhurt. Her masts were so splintered 
that they looked like a bundle of matches. 
Her sails were torn to rags. After the battle 
it was found that the Saratoga had fifty-five 
shotholes in her hull, while the Confiance 
had but ten. 

107 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The little Linnet was now left to keep up 
the fight single-handed. The gunboats did 
not come to her help, and she had the Sara- 
toga against her. In fifteen minutes, with 
her hull riddled like a sieve, her masts shot 
away and the water a foot deep in her hold, 
the plucky little brig hauled down her colors. 

The battle was fought and won in a little 
over two hours and a half after the first gun was 
fired. Of the sixteen British flags which proud- 
ly fluttered in the breeze early that Sunday 
morning not one remained at the masthead. 

The news of MacDonough's victory was 
received with joy all over the country. 
Medals, prize money, grants of land, and 
presents of all kinds poured in on him. 

^^In one short forenoon,'' he said, ^'from a 
poor lieutenant I became a rich man." 

The effects of the victory were far-reaching. 
Sir George Prevost and his army fled to Can- 
ada, leaving a large part of their mihtary 
supplies behind. New York was at last free 
from British invasion. 

108 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

When peace was declared; MacDonough 
continued in the naval service. His last 
cruise was in command of ^^Old Ironsides." 
Even from boyhood his health had been 
delicate, and he never recovered from the 
hardships and rough exposure of his services 
on Lake Champlain. He died of consump- 
tion, at sea, on his way home from Europe, 
only eleven years after his memorable victory. 

MacDonough passed away at the early 
age of forty- two. Few men have enjoyed 
such esteem and affection as this brilhant 
naval commander. A man of high spirit 
and superb courage, yet a deeply religious 
man; with all his stern ideas of discipline 
and fearlessness in battle, he was a man of 
the gentlest manners and mildest disposition. 

^^ These gave a perfume to his name,'' re- 
marked a quaint old writer, ^^ which the partial 
page of history seldom can retain for departed 
warriors, however brilhant their deeds." 



109 



X 

GUSHING SAVES THE FLEET 

DURING the first years of the Civil 
War the Union forces began a block- 
ade of the Southern seaports. This 
was done to prevent the Confederate vessels 
from passing in or out. The blockade almost 
stopped the shipping of cotton to Europe 
and the bringing back of guns, cannon, 
clothing, and many articles used in everyday 
life. This caused the people of the South 
great hardship. 

In the summer of 1864 the Union fleet 
almost controlled the great bays and rivers 
along the coast of North Carolina. The 
Confederates planned to build a vessel having 
its sides covered with iron, to destroy the 
wooden vessels of the Union fleet and thus 
open up the coast trade. 

110 



GUSHING SAVES THE FLEET 

The warships in which Decatur, Hull, 
and Bainbridge won glory for our nation in 
the War of 1812 were like those in which 
Nelson, Drake, and other famous sailors 
gained splendid naval victories for England. 
These warships were sailing vessels and car- 
ried cannon on each side. 

Naval battles had thus been fought for 
several hundred years, with the same kind 
of weapons and under the same conditions. 

Our Civil War, fought fifty or more years 
ago, put an end to the old way of fighting 
at sea. The protecting of vessels with iron 
armor, the use of steam, torpedoes, and 
cannon of high power sent the old-time 
wooden warships to the scrap heap. In a 
single year these vessels became as useless 
for hard fighting as would be the galleys of 
ancient Greece or Rome. 

In the early part of 1864 Captain Cooke, 
an able officer in the Confederate navy, 
laid the keel of an ironclad ram. He was 
nicknamed the ^^ scrap-iron captain," because 

111 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

he ransacked the country for iron to build 
the vessel. 

Compared with the battleships of our 
time, the Albemarle, as the ram was called, 
was a small vessel. She was only one hun- 
dred and twenty-two feet long, and drew but 
eight feet of water. She was built of massive 
Carolina pine timbers, covered with heavy 
planks and sheathed with two layers of iron, 
four inches thick. On her deck was a shield, 
or casement, sixty feet long, covered with 
planking and sheathed with two layers of 
two-inch iron. The ram was of solid oak 
plated with heavy iron, and tapered to an 
edge. The vessel was armed with two cannon. 

Even on her first trip down the Roanoke 
River the Albemarle made sad havoc with 
the Union wooden gunboats. She sank or 
disabled them, while she received little or no 
damage. 

Late in the autumn the vessel steamed 
up the Roanoke River some eight miles to 
the httle town of Plymouth, and lay at the 

112 



GUSHING SAVES THE FLEET 

wharf to be refitted and made ready for 
another attack on the Union fleet. She was 
under the guns of a fort^ with a regiment of 
soldiers ready to defend her. Her crew and 
cannon were kept ready for an attack at a 
moment's notice. A great boom of cypress 
logs was thrown round the vessel about 
thirty feet from her side. 

It was now plain that the wooden vessels 
of the Union fleet were no match for the 
ironclad ram. All kinds of schemes were 
planned to destroy her, but they came to 
nothing. 

At this crisis there was a young naval 
officer in the Union fleet named William B. 
Gushing, then only twenty-one years old. 
This young man had already been successful 
in several adventures. Just a few months 
before, with only twenty-five men, he had 
landed and taken an earthwork by storm. 
Later he had gone into the Confederate lines 
and captured an officer of high rank. He 

had also made several raids up the rivers 

113 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

along the coast and escaped without the 
loss of a man. 

To such an officer was entrusted the duty 
of destroying the dreaded Albemarle. It 
was indeed a task for a man of cool head, 
iron nerves, and superb self-control. Such 
a man, a born leader of men, was young 
Gushing. With his reckless courage he com- 
bined a rare coolness in extreme danger, 
and a quick and resourceful brain, so neces- 
sary in such an undertaking. 

The admiral in command of the Union 
fleet having approved of the plan for blow- 
ing up the ram. Gushing went to New York 
and secured one of the new steam launches 
which had just been invented. This vessel 
was an open boat thirty feet long, fitted 
with a small steam engine. Gushing had 
the little craft equipped with a twelve-pound 
cannon and a torpedo fastened to a spar 
twenty-eight feet long. 

About midnight, one dark night in October, 
with a picked crew of fifteen officers and 

114 



GUSHING SAVES THE FLEET 

men, the young commander was ready to 
steam up the Roanoke River. 

'^Come on, boys," he said, when it began 
to rain, ^^now is our time; it 's as black as a 
nigger ^s pocket." 

'^Good-by, boys," he called, as he left 
the gunboat to go on board the launch; 
^^it is another stripe or a coffin this time." 

It was no idle word. Some of the crew 
had been with him before in his desperate 
raids and knew what he meant. 

The little engine began to puff softly, 
and the launch moved out into the dark 
waters of the sound. Soon they began to 
steam slowly up the Roanoke. Once in a 
while they could hear the tread of the Con- 
federate sentry on the banks of the river. 
It was now only a mile to the wharf where 
the Albemarle lay. The river at this point 
was narrow, being only three hundred feet 
wide. As good fortune would have it, the 
watch fires that rainy night burned low. 
Suddenly out of the pitchy dark loomed 

115 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the black ironclad ram. A dog on shore 
began to bark. 

^'Boat ahoy! boat ahoy! What boat is 
that?'^ shouted a sentry on the ram. 

A medley of voices burst out of the mid- 
night silence. Guns were fired. The watch 
fires began to burn briskly, for the sentinels 
piled on fresh fuel. Now it was Cushing's 
turn to be surprised. The light showed the 
ironclad made fast to the wharf with the 
boom of logs round her. 

The test of a great leader had come. 
Quick as a flash Gushing headed his httle 
launch straight for the ironclad. His only 
hope was to drive the bow of his boat over 
the string of logs and thus get a chance to use 
the torpedo boom. The launch struck the 
logs and was driven part way up on them. 
Gushing ran to the bow of the boat and stood 
by the torpedo spar. The men on the iron- 
clad were making things lively. The air 
seemed full of bullets, but a shot from the 
cannon on the launch disturbed their aim. 

116 




THE TORPEDO HAD DONE ITS WORK. Page n;- 



GUSHING SAVES THE FLEET 

To handle the torpedo Gushing had fastened 
different cords to his fingers and wrist. With 
wonderful skill and quickness he lowered the 
spar and by a strong pull succeeded in plac- 
ing and exploding the torpedo just as a shot 
from the ironclad went crashing through his 
boat. 

^^ Surrender ! Surrender ! '' shouted the cap- 
tain of the Albemarle. 

Gushing refused. 

The Gonfederates kept up their fire at 
close range. 

But the torpedo had done its work. The 
dreaded ironclad was sinking. She would 
no longer be able to make havoc with the 
wooden vessels of the Union fleet. The 
carpenter reported that there was a ^^hole 
in her bow big enough to drive a wagon in.^' 

^^What happened to Gushing? ^^ you ask. 

That will be told you in another story. 



117 



XI 

HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

WHAT became of Gushing and his 
brave men is best told in his own 
words. They are as interesting 
now as when written, more than fifty years 
ago. 

^^ Twice refusing to surrender, I told my 
men to save themselves. I threw off my 
sword, revolver, shoes, and coat, and struck 
out from my sinking boat into the river. 
It was cold, long after the frosts, and the 
water chilled the blood. The whole surface 
of the stream was plowed up by grape and 
musketry. My nearest friends, the fleet, 
were twelve miles away; but anything was 
better than to fall into the enemy's hands, 
so I swam for the opposite shore. 

^'The Confederates were out in boats, 
118 



HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

picking up my men; and one of the boats, 
attracted by the sound, pulled in my direc- 
tion. I heard my own name mentioned, 
but was not seen. I now struck out down 
the stream, and was soon far enough away 
again to attempt landing. This time, as I 
struggled to reach the bank, I heard a groan 
in the river behind me, and although very 
much exhausted, concluded to turn and give 
all the aid in my power to the poor fellow 
who had bravely shared the danger with me. 
'^Swimming in the night, with eye at the 
level of the water, one can have no idea of 
distance, and labors, as I did, under the dis- 
couraging thought that no headway is made. 
But if I was to drown that night, I had at 
least an opportunity of dying while struggling 
to aid another. The swimmer proved to 
be the master^s mate, named Woodman, 
who said that he could swim no longer. 
Knocking his cap from his head, I used my 
right arm to sustain him, and ordered him 
to strike out. For ten minutes at least, I 

119 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

think, he managed to keep afloat, when, his 
physical force being completely gone, he 
sank like a stone. 

'^ Again alone upon the water, I directed 
my course toward the town side of the river. 
I did not make much headway, as my strokes 
were now very feeble. My clothes were 
soaked and heavy; the little chop-seas 
splashed with choking persistence into my 
mouth every time I gasped for breath. Still 
there was a will not to give up. I kept up 
a sort of mechanical motion long after my 
bodily force was in fact expended. 

^^At last, and not a moment too soon, I 
touched the soft mud, and in the excitement 
of the first shock I half raised my body and 
made one step forward. I fell, and remained 
half in the mud and half in the water until 
dayhght, unable even to crawl on hands 
and knees. I was nearly frozen, with my 
brain in a whirl, but with one thing strong in 
me, the fixed determination to escape. 

^^As the day dawned, I found myself in a 
120 



HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

point of swamp that enters the suburbs of 
Plymouth, and not forty yards from one of 
the forts. The sun came out bright and 
warm. It gave me back a good portion of 
the strength which I had lost during the 
night. Its light showed me the town swarm- 
ing with soldiers and sailors, who moved 
about excitedly, as if angry at some sudden 
shock. It was a source of satisfaction to me 
to know that I had pulled the wire that set 
all these figures moving. 

^^I had no desire of being discovered. My 
first object was to get into a dry fringe of 
rushes that edged the swamp. To do this 
I was forced to pass over thirty or forty feet 
of open ground, right under the eye of a sen- 
tinel who walked the parapet. 

^^ Watching until he turned for a moment, 
I made a dash across the space. I was only 
halfway over when he again turned and forced 
me to drop down right between two paths, 
and almost entirely unshielded. Perhaps he 
did not see me because of the mud that 

121 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

covered me and made me blend with the 
earth. At all events the soldier continued 
his tramp for some time, while I, flat on my 
back, lay awaiting another chance for action. 

^^Soon a party of four men came down the 
path on my right, two of them being officers, 
and passed so close to me as almost to tread 
upon my arm. They were talking upon the 
events of the previous night, and were won- 
dering 'how it was done.^ This proved to 
me the necessity of regaining the swamp. 
I sank my heels and elbows into the earth 
and forced my body, inch by inch, toward it. 

''For five hours then, with bare feet, head, 
and hands, I made my way where I venture 
to say none ever did before, until I came at 
last to a clear place, where I rested upon 
solid ground. ... A working party of sol- 
diers was in the opening, engaged in sinking 
some schooners in the river to obstruct the 
channel. I passed twenty yards in their 
rear through a corn furrow, and gained some 
woods below. Here I met an old darky, and 

122 



HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

after serving out to him twenty dollars in 
greenbacks, I trusted him enough to send him 
into town for news of the ram. The negro 
soon came back, his face all of a grin. 

^^^ What news?' said I. 

^^^ Mighty good news/ said the darky, Hhe 
big iron ship 's gone to the bottom. Don't 
you want something to eat?' I said I could 
eat anything. Upon this he took a corncake 
and cold boiled sweet potato from out the 
bosom of his shirt. These I greedily ate. 
The kind old negro then tried to tell me how 
to get back to the fleet. 

'^ I went on again, and plunged into a swamp 
so thick that I had only the sun for a guide. 
It was a tangle of underbrush and creeping 
vines. I could not see ten feet in advance. 
There was one thing quite certain. Nobody 
would be likely to find me. 

^^ About two o'clock in the afternoon I 
came out from the dense mass of reeds upon 
the bank of one of the deep, narrow streams 
that abound there, and right opposite to the 

123 



/ 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

only road in the vicinity. It seemed provi- 
dential, for, thirty yards above or below, I 
never should have seen the road. I might 
have struggled on until, worn out and starved, 
I should find a never-to-be-discovered grave. 

^^As it was, my good fortune had led me 
to where a picket party of seven soldiers 
were posted. They had a little flat-bottomed, 
square-ended skiff tied to the root of a cypress 
tree. Watching them until they went back 
a few yards to eat, I crept into the stream and 
swam over, keeping the big tree between 
myself and them, and making for the skiff. 
Gaining the bank, I quietly cast loose the 
boat and floated behind it some thirty yards 
around the first bend, where I got in and 
pulled away as only a man could when his 
liberty was at stake. 

^^Hour after hour I paddled, never ceasing 
for a moment, first on one side, then on the 
other. Sunshine passed into twihght, and 
that was swallowed up in thick darkness only 
relieved by the few faint star rays that pene- 

124 



HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

trated the; iheavy swamp curtain on either 
side. 

"At last I reached the mouth of the 
Roanoke, and found the open sound before 
me. My frail boat could not have lived in 
the ordinary sea there, but it chanced to be 
calm that night. There was only a slight 
swell, which was, however, sufficient to have 
an effect upon my frail skiff, so that I was 
forced to paddle all upon one side to keep her 
on the intended course. 

"After steering by a star for perhaps two 
hours for where I thought the fleet might be, 
I at length discovered one of the vessels, and 
after a long time got within hail. My ^Ship 
ahoy ! ' was given with the last of my strength, 
and I fell powerless, with a splash, into the 
water in the bottom of my boat, and waited 
results. I had pulled every minute for ten 
successive hours, and for four my body had 
been asleep with the exception of my arms 
and brain. 

"It was about eleven o^clock that night. 
125 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The lookout on the picket ship Valley City- 
saw a skiff slowly floating along. 

'^^Ship ahoy! who goes there?' shouts the 
lookout; as he watches the frail craft. 

^^'A friend; take me up/ comes a feeble 
cry. A boat is lowered with a crew armed 
to the teeth. 'Who are you?' comes the 
hail; as the boat draws near the skiff. 

'^'Lieutenant Gushing, or what is left of 
me/ is the reply. 

" ' What about the Albemarle ? ' 

"'Will never sink another gunboat. She 
is at the bottom of the Roanoke.' 

"At last I was on board of the Valley City, 
had drunk a little strong coffee, and was on 
my way to the flagship. 

"As soon as it became known that I had 
returned, rockets were thrown up and all 
hands were called to cheer ship; and when 
I announced success, all the commanding 
officers were summoned on board to deliber- 
ate upon a plan of attack. 

"In the morning I was well again in every 
128 



HOW GUSHING ESCAPED 

way, with the exception of hands and feet, 
and had the pleasure of exchanging shots 
with the batteries that I had inspected the 
day before. I was sent in the Valley City 
to report to Admiral Porter at Hampton 
Roads, and soon after Plymouth and the 
whole district of the Albemarle, deprived of 
the ironclad^s protection, fell an easy prey 
to our fleet.'' 

The Albemarle had sunk instantly in the 
eight feet of water at her berth. Of Cush- 
ing's crew, he himself, one sailor, and two 
officers escaped. The remaining eleven men 
were captured. The captain of the Albe- 
marle said that a more gallant thing had not 
been done during the war. 

For his brave deed Gushing received sub- 
stantial recognition. He was given a vote 
of thanks by Congress, and although not yet 
twenty-two, was promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant commander. 

Lieutenant Cushing, the hero of this and 
many other daring exploits, was engaged in 

127 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

thirty-five naval contests during the Civil 
War. He was only twenty-three years old 
when the war was over. 

In 1872 Gushing was promoted to the grade 
of commander, the youngest officer of that 
rank in the navy of the United States. Two 
years later his health began to fail. He 
died in Washington during the week before 
Christmas in 1874. He was but thirty-two 
years of age. 



128 



XII 

RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

FIFTY or more years ago the people 
of the South did not manufacture 
many goods, and during the Civil 
War they had to get their war supplies from 
foreign lands. To pay for them they shipped 
cotton, which was their chief product. To 
elude the Union ships, steamers called block- 
ade runners came into use. These steamers 
found shelter in several English ports not 
far off the Southern coast, such as Nassau 
and the smaller ports of the Bermuda Islands. 
It was only a short run to the great com- 
mercial centers at Savannah, Charleston, and 
Wilmington. 

The blockade runner of fifty years ago was 
a narrow side-wheel steamer of five or six 
hundred tons. Her hull rose only a few 

129 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

feet above the water, and was painted a dull 
gray or lead color. To avoid making smoke, 
hard coal was used. While running into port 
all lights were put out and steam was blown 
off under water. 

Blockade runners made a great deal of 
money for their owners. Even British naval 
officers sometimes took false names to be 
made captains of these swift vessels. They 
were often paid five thousand dollars for a 
round trip from Nassau to one of the South- 
ern ports. Cotton cost from twelve to fifteen 
cents a pound in Charleston, and brought 
from fifty to seventy-five cents a pound in 
Liverpool. One famous blockade runner, the 
Robert E. Lee, is said to have run the block- 
ade twenty-one times in one year. 

We may be sure that these steamers, with 
their cargoes of '^hardware,'' as they were 
called, tried every means to avoid capture 
by the Union fleet. 

The captain of the blockade runner Stormy 
Petrel was an Englishman, a born sailor, 

130 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

short, active, and fearless as a lion. He 
knew the Southern coast as well as he did 
the yard of his cottage in England. His 
price for running the Stormy Petrel from 
Nassau into Charleston and back was four 
thousand dollars. The risk was great, and 
the price was high. His pilot was a Mr. 
Polter. His supercargo, named Debenham, 
had the care of the cargo of clothing, rifles, 
and cannon, and the buying of as much raw 
cotton as the steamer could carry back to 
England. 

Early one evening in June, 1862, the Stormy 
Petrel moved out to an anchorage at Nassau, 
and there awaited her pilot. 

The dusk came on. The men were at their 
posts, and the captain gave the word. The 
Stormy Petrel, which had been getting up her 
steam for the last hour or more, swung slowly 
round and worked her way out of the port as 
quietly as she had entered. The row of 
lamps on the quay, the scattered lights along 
the shores of the bay, and the steady fire of 

131 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the beacon at the mouth of the harbor faded 
away and were lost one by one in the distance. 

For a long time the steamer skirted the 
coast line, keeping among the Bahamas, and 
pursuing her way through British waters. 
A little after midnight she stood out to sea. 

It was a lovely night, with the horizon 
somewhat hazy after the heat of the day. 
The sea broke into phosphorescent smiles 
and dimples. The heavens were one glowing 
vault of stars. The Stormy Petrel, her steam 
being now well up, I'ushed on with a foam of 
fire at her bows and a train of molten dia- 
monds in her wake. Thus the night wore 
on. At gray dawn the boy in the crow's 
nest reported a steamer on the starboard 
quarter. 

Scarcely had this danger been seen and 
avoided than another and another were sighted 
at some point or other of the horizon. And 
now swift orders, prompt obedience, eager 
scrutiny, were the rule of the day. The 
vessel was in perilous waters. Her only 

132 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

chance of safety lay in the sharpness of her 
lookout, and the speed with which she changed 
her course when any possible enemy appeared 
in sight. All day long she kept doubling 
like a hare, sometimes stopping altogether, 
to let some dangerous-looking stranger pass, 
sometimes turning back on her course, but, 
thanks to her general invisibility and the 
vigilance of her pilot, she escaped unseen, 
and even made fair progress. 

The sun went down, half gold, half crimson, 
settling into a bank of haze. Lower it sank, 
and lower, the gold diminishing, the crimson 
gaining. For a moment it hung on the verge 
of the waters. The sky was flushed to the 
zenith, and every ripple crested with living 
fire. Suddenly it was gone, and before the 
glow had yet had time to fade, the Southern 
night rushed in. 

An hour or so later the wind dropped, and 
the Stormy Petrel steamed straight into a 
light fog, which lay across her pathway like a 
soft, fleecy wall of cloud. 

133 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

'^This fog is in our favor, Mr. Polter/' said 
Debenham, pacing the deck with rapid steps. 

^^Well, sir, that ^s as it maybe/' repUed the 
pilot, cautiously. ^^The fog helps to hide 
us; but then, you see, it likewise helps to 
run us into danger. '^ 

It was a little after midnight. All seemed 
to be solitude and security. No sound was 
heard save the rushing of the Stormy Petrel 
through the calm waters. Suddenly there 
rose before them a great, ghostly, shadowy 
something, a phantom ship, vague, moun- 
tainous, terrific, from the midst of which 
there issued a trumpet-tongued voice. 

'^Steamer ahoy! Heave to, or I'll sink 
you!'' 

^^ Guess it's the Roanoke," observed the 
pilot, calmly. 

Even as he said the words, the man-of-war 
loomed out more distinct, and was within 
pistol shot. 

The captain of the Stormy Petrel answered 
the hostile summons. 

134 

\ 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

\ 

^'Ay, ay, sir/' he shouted through his 
speaking trumpet. ^^We are hove to/' 

And then he called down the tube to those 
in the engine room, ^^Ease her." 

''You won't stop the vessel, Captain Hay?" 
exclaimed Debenham, breathlessly. 

''I have stopped her, sir," was the curt reply. 

Then thundered a second order from the 
threatening phantom alongside. 

''Lay to for boats." 

To which the captain again replied, '^Ay, 
ay, sir!" 

Debenham ground his teeth. "Good 
heavens, man!" he muttered, scarcely con- 
scious of his own words; "do you give in 
thus, without an effort?" 

The captain turned on him with an oath. 

"Who says I'm going to give in?" he 
answered savagely. "Wait till you see me 
doit, sir!" 

And now the Stormy Petrel, her steam 
turned off, had ceased to move. All on the 
deck stood silent, motionless, waiting with 

135 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

suspended breath. They could hear the cap- 
tain of the cruiser issuing his rapid orders. 
Through the fog they dimly saw the boats 
as they were lowered into the water, and 
they heard the splash of the oars and the 
boisterous gayety of the men. 

Debenham uttered a suppressed groan. 
The perspiration stood in great beads on his 
forehead. 

'^Will you let them board us?'' he asked 
hoarsely, pointing to the boats, now halfway 
between the two vessels. 

The captain grinned, put his lips again 
to the tube, and shouted down to the engineer, 
"Full speed ahead!'' 

With one quivering leap the Stormy Petrel 
shot out again on her course, like a greyhound 
let loose. 

"There, Mr. Supercargo," said the captain, 
grimly, "that is my way of giving in. Our 
friend will hardly desert his boats in the open 
sea a night like this, even for the fun of cap- 
turing a blockade runner." 

136 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

At this moment a red flash and a tremen- 
dous report declared the prompt resentment 
of the Union commander. But almost before 
those rolling echoes had died away, the 
Stormy Petrel was half a mile ahead. Not 
a sign of the cruiser was visible through the 
fog. 

The night passed away without further 
incident, and by five o'clock the next morning 
the blockade runner was within eight hours 
of her destination. Both captain and pilot 
had allowed more time for delays. They 
were not a little perplexed at finding them- 
selves so near the end of their journey. To 
go on was impossible, for they could only 
hope to slip through the blockading fleet 
under cover of the night. To remain where 
they were was almost as bad. However, 
they had no choice, and so, after some con- 
sultation, they agreed to lie to for the present. 
But they kept up steam, and held themselves 
in readiness to repeat the tactics of the pre- 
ceding day. 

137 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

The fog had now disappeared. The day 
was briniant, the sky one speckless dome of 
intense blue. The Stormy Petrel would have 
given much for dark and cloudy weather. 
Presently a long trail of smoke on the horizon 
warned her of a steamer in the offing, where- 
upon she edged away in the opposite direction 
as quickly as possible. 

Toward sunset the pilot began to look 
grave. ^^ Guess we sha'n't know where we are 
if this game goes on much longer. It isn^t 
in nature not to get out of one's reckoning 
after dodging about all day long in this style.'' 

Still there was no help for it. Dodge the 
Stormy Petrel must, if she was to keep out 
of harm's way. With all her dodging it 
seemed well-nigh miraculous that she should 
escape observation. 

At length, as evening drew on and the sun 
neared the horizon, preparations were made 
for the final run. The captain and pilot, 
by the help of charts, soundings, and the like, 
had pretty well satisfied themselves as to 

138 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

their position. The pilot, knowing when it 
would be high tide on the bar, had calcu- 
lated the time for going into the harbor. 

^^Twouldn^t be amiss, captain," he added, 
''if you was to change that white vest for 
something dark; nor if you, sir," turning to 
Debenham, ''was to take off that Ught suit 
altogether for the next few hours." 

The captain muttered something about 
"infernal nonsense," but went to his cabin 
to change his clothes. Whereupon Mr. Polter 
gave it as his opinion that if the captain and 
all on board were to black the whites of their 
eyes and put their teeth in mourning, it would 
not be more than the occasion warranted. 

The brief twilight being already past, the 
engineers began to pile on the coal. The 
captain , gave the word, and the blockade 
runner steered straight for Charleston. 

And now it was night, clear, but not over- 
clear, although the stars were shining. 
Objects, however, were discernible at some 
distance, and ships were sighted continually. 

139 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

But since none of these lay directly in his 
path, and since he knew his own boat to be 
invisible by night beyond a certain distance, 
the captain held his course. 

In the meanwhile the hours seemed to fly. 
The Stormy Petrel was cutting the waters at 
full speed. She flung the spray over her sharp 
bows and flew onward. About midnight the 
stars began to get hazy and the night thick- 
ened, but there was still no mist on the sea. 

Toward two in the morning they found 
that they were nearing shore, and the pilot 
gave orders to slow down the engines. A 
breathless silence prevailed. Every eye was 
on the watch, every ear on the alert. Ex- 
pecting every moment to catch their first 
glimpse of the blockading squadron, they 
stole ahead slowly and cautiously. . 

Up to this time the hours had gone by like 
minutes; now the minutes went by like 
hours. There were no beacons to show the 
way, for the harbor lights had not been used 
since the arrival of the Union ships outside 

140 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

the bar. The men on the deck began to ask 
themselves whether some outhne of the coast 
ought not to have been visible before this. 

The ship crept onward. Each fresh sound- 
ing brought her into shallower water. The 
eager watchers stared into the darkness. 
They knew that the tide would turn and the 
dawn come ere long. After sunrise neither 
speed nor skill could save them. 

At length, when suspense was sharpened 
almost to pain, there came into sight a 
faint indefinite something, and presently they 
made out the lines of a large vessel lying at 
anchor, with her head to the wind and a 
faint spark of light at her prow. 

With a quiet laugh the pilot slapped his thigh. 

^^That's the senior officer's ship,'' he 
whispered. ''She Ues just two miles off the 
mouth o' Charleston Bar, an' she 's bound, 
you see, to show a light to her own cruisers. 
Zounds, now, if we haven't fixed it uncom- 
mon tidy this time !" 

Not one by one, but, as it were, at once, 
141 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the whole Une of blockaders came into sight, 
all under way and gliding slowly, almost im- 
perceptibly, to and fro in the darkness. 

Between some two of these the Stormy 
Petrel must make her final run. 

Steam was got up to the highest pressure, 
and the blockade runner ran at full speed. 
The two ships between which lay her perilous 
path grew nearer and clearer, and a dark ridge 
of coast became dimly visible beyond them. 

The supreme moment was now at hand. 
Straight and fast the vessel flew, her pro- 
pellers throbbing furiously, like a pulse at 
high fever, and the water hissing past her 
bows. Every man on board held his breath. 
Flagship and cruiser, the one half a mile to 
the right, the other half a mile to the left, 
lay a few hundred yards ahead. For a 
moment the Stormy Petrel was in a line 
with them. All at once she was in the midst 
of a current and rushing straight at the long 
white ridge of boihng surf that marked the 

position of the bar. 

142 



RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 

'^By Jove!'' exclaimed the captain, draw- 
ing a long breath, '^we Ve done it." 

^^ Don't you make too^certain, Cap'n, till 
we're over the bar," was the reply. ^'We 
aren't out o' gunshot range yet awhile." 

Over the bar they were, however, ere long, 
safe and successful. 

The whistle was blown twice, shrill and 
fearlessly, and two white lights were hung 
out over the bow. Had these signals been 
neglected, the ship would have been fired on 
by the Confederate forts. 

And now other lights flashed out, tongues 
were loosened, and the captain, unbending for 
once, promised the men extra reward. 

The long irregular line of coast had 
emerged into the gray of dawn; and just as 
the first flush of crimson streamed up the 
eastern sky, the Stormy Petrel cast anchor 
under the batteries of Morris Island in 
Charleston Harbor. 



143 



XIII 

THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

IN the Pacific Ocean, more than fifteen 
hundred miles west of the Hawaiian 
Islands, is Ocean Island, a lonely and 
desolate strip of sand, out of the usual path 
of ships. There is no water on it, nothing 
green, and only now and then a stray gull or 
seal. 

In the fall of 1871 the United States 
steamer Saginaw, a side-wheel vessel of three 
hundred tons, set out from Midway Island, 
a hundred miles away, to go to Ocean Island. 
The object of this visit was to rescue any 
sailors that might have been shipwrecked 
there. 

Captain Sicard and his men were in high 
spirits. They felt as secure in their staunch 
little craft as if they were at their own fire- 
sides in their distant homes. 

144 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

In the night, as the ship was slowly ap- 
proaching the island, she ran on a reef. The 
bottom of the vessel was crushed. The 
breakers swept over her decks, smashing or 
sweeping away most of the boats. Battered 
and strained, the captain's gig was the only 
boat left that was strong enough to pass 
through the surf. By a bit of skill and hard 
work the gig was launched and filled with 
men. The frail craft passed safely across 
the reef to smooth water, and reached the 
sandy beach. Before daybreak the officers 
and crew of the ill-fated steamer were landed 
on the desert island. 

There were ninety-six men all told on that 
sandy shore, without food or fresh water^ and 
with little or no hope of rescue from a passing 
vessel. 

The careful training and strict disciphne of 
the men stood them in good stead. Boxes 
and barrels of provisions, which washed 
ashore from the wreck, were pulled up on the 
beach. But many of the provisions were 

145 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

soaked with salt water and worthless. At 
best there was not enough food saved to last 
the crew eight weeks on quarter rations. 

To get drinking water, they boiled sea 
water in an old boiler which they had suc- 
ceeded in getting out of the wreck, and con- 
densed the steam. 

The most rigid rules for daily living were 
put in force. The greatest peril was from 
want of suitable food, and the sHghtest waste 
was forbidden. Certain men were chosen to 
kill what birds, turtles, and seals they could 
find. A few fish were caught in the lagoons. 
All this helped but a Httle. 

Midway Island was only a hundred miles 
distant, but no help could be expected there. 
The nearest port at which they could look for 
assistance was at Honolulu, fifteen hundred 
miles away. It was soon plain that if they 
were to save their Uves, somebody must go to 
Honolulu. 

''I mil take the captain's gig and go,'' 
offered Lieutenant Talbot. 

146 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

''If you please, sir, let me go with you," 
begged William Halford. one of the crew of 
the captain's boat. 

Three good men besides Talbot and Hal- 
ford were chosen to man the Uttle vessel. 

The boat was dragged up on the beach, a 
new mast put in. and other preparations 
made for the perilous trip. Enough food was 
taken to last five men for twenty-five days 
on quarter rations. The food was indeed 
poor stuff. "^ ^Nlost of it was peas, beans, and 
rice, which had been rescued from the wreck, 
dried in the sun, and put up in tin cans. 
The rest of the food consisted of dried potatoes. 
Casks of distilled water were put on board to 
furnish drinking water. 

"Give them three cheers, boys." called 
Captain Sicard, when the boat passed safely 
over the reef. 

Back came cheers as the frail little craft 
sailed out to the open sea. 

In front lay the great ocean. 

Even from the first day the weather was 
147 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

stormy. A gale set in and the waves soaked 
the crew with spray. 

^^The grit of the men was superb/' said 
Halford, long afterward; ^Hhey smoked their 
pipes and cracked jokes and spun yarns.'' 

Their food proved to be almost worthless. 
When one of the men made a slit with his 
knife through the top of a tin can, a tiny pop, 
as from a soda bottle, told the grim story 
that the cereals had fermented. Can after 
can was opened, with the same result. 

'^We must eat this if possible/' declared 
Talbot, ^'for most of our food is just like it." 

With a wry face the men tried to eat. The 
food made them terribly sick, but for three 
days they did their best to live on it. By 
this time they were hardly able to move about 
from pain. 

^' Throw the stuff overboard before we all 
die," ordered Talbot. 

So overboard went three fourths of all their 
food. Nothing w^as left but dried potatoes 
and water. The next day each man was 

148 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

served with a teaspoonful of the potatoes 
made into a mush with water. Not a man 
even hinted at saihng back to Ocean Island. 

The boat had a small tin stove, heated by 
oil; but when five days out, they lost their 
light and the means of making it. Finally 
they obtained a light by using the lens from 
a spyglass. By this time they had suffered 
greatly from wet, cold, and the want of food. 

Talbot seemed to depend most on Halford. 
The man was of the stuff that heroes are 
made of. He endured all kinds of hardships 
with grim calmness. 

^^It is a close call, Halford, and we are all 
likely to starve to death before we reach 
Honolulu. But it is our only chance. There 
are ninety-one shipmates waiting for help 
over there. ^^ 

''We must do it,'^ was the simple answer 
of the sturdy sailor; ''these men will all die 
game. You may risk your life on that. We 
must reach Honolulu. ^^ 

It was impossible to take observations 
149 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

properly in a bobbing boat, and they went 
sixty miles out of their course. 

About this time the sea grew ugly. Weak 
and sick, Halford stuck to his post at the 
tiller. Big waves threatened to break over 
the boat at every moment. A huge wave 
came along one night and carried away the 
lantern which was lashed to the compass. 
After this they had to steer by the wind and 
the waves. The sperm oil used in the lan- 
tern was now eaten as sauce for the potato 
mush. Nobody but Halford could keep the 
stuff on his stomach. 

^^ Sorry for you, boys,'^ he said grimly, 
smacking his lips ; ^^it puts me in mind of the 
puddings my good old mother used to bake 
for us boys up on our Vermont farm.^' 

The days dragged on. There was little or 
no sunshine. Gale after gale pursued them. 
The poor fellows were kept busy reefing the 
sail, bailing the boat, and dodging the huge 
waves. One day the oars were swept over- 
board. 

150 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

Every hour the men grew weaker. They 
were nearly starved. Their daily ration was 
two teaspoonfuls of mush, for this was all 
that could be spared from the scanty stores. 
Leaving one man at the helm, the others 
would he in the bottom of the boat. Halford 
was the hero. He never seemed to get tired. 
He could stand a long turn at the helm. He 
kept good-natured. He told sea stories and 
cracked jokes. In brief, he did all he could to 
keep up the courage and strength of his ship- 
mates. 

Twenty-five days had now dragged by since 
these weather-beaten men began to fight their 
way across the trackless ocean. 

"Boys, here is all that is left of our food," 
said Talbot, as he scraped the bottom of the 
box which held the dried potatoes. There was 
only one teaspoonful of mush left for each man. 

The next day a bird called the booby 
perched on the gunwale of the gig. Halford 
grabbed it by the leg, killed it, and cut it 
into five pieces. A tiny piece of the tough, 

151 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

raw meat was all they had to eat that day. 
The next day a flying fish fell into the boat. 
It made a mouthful for each man. 

''Ahoy there! Wake up, boys! Land ho!'' 
shouted the man at the tiller, early the next 
day. Far away in the dim haze was the low- 
lying land. The half-starved men crawled up 
from the bottom of the gig and cried for joy. 

''It is surely land, boys," Halford assured 
them, putting his pipe in his mouth and pull- 
ing on it with a feehng of comfort. 

All day the wind blew hard. The poor 
fellows worked their frail craft through the 
choppy sea at a fair rate of speed. When 
they came nearer, the island seemed a huge 
cUff overhanging the sea. It looked like a 
lonely coast without the sign of a human 
being. Night came on before they could find 
a place to land. Of course it would be safer 
to wait until the next morning ; but a contrary 
wind might drive them out to sea. 

With Halford to help him Talbot took the 
tiller and made ready to get over the reef in 

152 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

the dark. They sadly needed oars to pull 
them through the great breakers. They drew 
nearer and nearer. Just as they seemed out 
of danger, a huge wave caught the gig and 
threw it on its side. Halford kept cool and 
clung to the boat. Wave after wave hurled 
him about. At last the frail craft, half filled 
with water, was carried over the reef into the 
lagoon. Halford and one of his shipmates 
still hung on. The others had been swept 
into the sea. Almost within a stone's throw 
of safety the starving men had lost their lives 
in the surf. 

Slowly the battered gig was driven toward 
the shore. Halford tumbled overboard and 
made for the land. His companion, whom he 
helped ashore, died of exhaustion. Halford 
crawled up on the sand and fell in a faint. 

At dayhght he awoke. One of his knees 
was badly hurt. He could not walk a step. 
Using a piece of the wreckage for a crutch, 
he made his way a little distance up the 
beach. A native peeped out from the under- 

153 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

brush. When he caught sight of the strange- 
looking being, he was too frightened to move. 
Other natives came running. 

''Aloha! Aloha!'' cried Halford, which 
was the Kanakas' word of friendly greeting. 

After getting over their fright, the natives 
were kind and gentle, and brought somebody 
who could speak a little English. They 
carried Halford to a plantation where a white 
man lived, and furnished him with food and 
clothing. 

In a few days he was well enough to sail 
in a native schooner to Honolulu, ninety 
miles farther to the east. Here he told his 
story. It was hard to believe. The people 
at once loaded a steamer with food and medi- 
cal supplies and sent it to Ocean Island. 

Captain Sicard and his entire crew were 
found alive and in good health. They had 
also had a hard time of it, until they got 
used to a diet of meat. They were building 
a flat-bottomed schooner, in which they hoped 
to escape if relief did not come. 

154 



THE WRECK OF THE SAGINAW 

Halford was sent home by steamer, and 
spent some time in a naval hospital on the 
Pacific coast. He was well rewarded for his 
plucky deed. As for his poor comrades who 
were lost in the surf, nothing more was ever 
known. They had fought their way for 
thirty-one days across the stormy ocean only 
to be drowned at last. They had done their 
duty, but paid for it with their lives. 



155 



XIV 

A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

IN a little town near the prosperous city 
of Portland, Oregon, there was built 
some ten years ago a fair and stately 
monument to the memory of a sailor named 
Arthur Venville, only seventeen years of age. 
This lad was born in England, but was 
brought to this country while a child. When 
he was seven years old, his father died, tell- 
ing him to take care of his mother and his 
sisters. 

It seems that Arthur wanted to prepare for 
college, but had to go to work in a shop to 
help support the family. His health soon 
began to fail. He enlisted in the navy as an 
apprentice. He was such a frail lad that the 
others used to call him ^^ sissy/' ^^girl sailor,'^ 
and other names. 

156 



A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

In the year 1899, one year after the close 
of the war with Spain, young Venville went 
to the Phihppine Islands on board of the gun- 
boat Yorktown. 

At this time there was lively fighting in 
those distant islands. For almost a year a 
band of fifty Spanish soldiers had held out 
against five hundred Filipinos. The Spaniards 
were besieged in a stone church at Baler, a 
Httle town on the coast of the island of 
Luzon. With plenty of food and guns the 
Spaniards had fought long and hard. 

Adpairal Dewey was in command of the 
naval forces in the Philippines. He made up 
his mind to help this handful of Spaniards, 
and gave the Yorktown the task of doing so. 

The gunboat arrived at Baler Bay about 
the middle of April. The village of Baler 
could not be seen even from the masthead, 
for it lay several miles up the river, and was 
hidden by the tropical forest. 

^^I have a little job for you," said the cap- 
tain of the Yorktown to Lieutenant Gillmore. 

157 



HEROIC DEEDS OP AMERICAN SAILORS 

'^It may keep you away from the ship for an 
hour or so. Before daylight to-morrow take 
a crew and make a study of the coast/' 

A little after four o'clock the next morning 
the second cutter, under the command of 
Lieutenant Gillmore, started with seventeen 
men. They were forbidden to speak above a 
whisper, and used muffled oars in pulling up 
the river. The two men who were to serve 
as scouts were presently put ashore and soon 
lost from sight in the thick woods. 

The crew pulled up the river as far as it 
seemed prudent. The shore was low and 
marshy, deep with mud, and covered with 
high swamp grass. Lieutenant Gillmore had 
just given the order to return. The men were 
swinging the cutter round, when suddenly 
from a bit of high wooded ground a sentry 
fired his gun as a signal and ran into the 
woods. 

Trouble came with a rush. Within a 
minute after the disappearance of the sentry 
a volley burst out of the thick brush. A 

158 



A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

sailor named Morrissey was shot through the 
head and instantly killed. He fell heavily 
and carried another man down with him. A 
man named Dillon, pulling at an oar, was 
shot in the eye, and never knew what struck 
him. He, too, toppled over and plowed 
down through the sailors, knocking one or 
two of them into the bottom of the boat. 
Rynders, at another oar, felt something the 
matter with his left hand. A chance shot, 
running along the oar, had cut off his fingers 
as a surgeon^s knife might have done. 

^^You are fearfully wounded, Rynders,^' 
called Gillmore; ^^you may drop your oar.^' 

^^Oh, no, it is not much. I am used to 
this sort of thing. I used to be in the Dutch 
navy.'' 

The other men were calm. They did not 
speak to one another or cry out. They were 
trying their best to obey orders to back 
water, to work the boat farther out. Some 
of the landsmen were firing rifles. 

Two of the sailors were in the bow of the 
159 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

boat, trying to get the cannon into action 
again. They had fired a few rounds from it, 
but it had been disabled by the enemy's 
second volley. The two men were cool and 
deliberate, but they were not able to repair 
the gun. 

More volleys came cracking and hissing 
from the brush. Gillmore was standing in 
the stern of the boat. McDonald and Ny- 
berg, standing by his side, fell, mortally 
wounded, adding their bodies to the heap 
fast accumulating in the bottom of the boat. 
Two men were lying dead. Four were seri- 
ously or mortally wounded. Two or three 
who had been toppled over were struggling 
out from under the mass of their bleeding 
comrades. The wounded begged to be shot, 
that they might not fall into the hands of 
the savages. Those who were able to handle 
a rifle managed to return the enemy's fire. 
The worst of it was they could not see any- 
body to shoot at. 

^'I remember most vividly," Gillmore told 
160 



A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

afterwards, ^Hhe fierce desire I had at that 
moment to get back at the foe — to see some 
of them fall and bite the dust and writhe in 
pain as our men were doing. For a short 
time the fighting instinct crowded out of my 
mind pity and fear. 

'^ Having no other weapon than a revolver, 
useless at that range, I reached for the rifle 
dropped by one of the dead. It had been 
hit in the lock, and the cHp was jammed in. 

^^ Arthur Venville, one of our apprentice 
boys, tried to repair it. A bullet went through 
the flesh of his neck. 

'^^Mr. Gillmore, I'm hit,' he said quietly. 
But he continued working at the rifle. 

'^A second shot plowed through the boy's 
breast and came out in his armpit. 

^^ ^I 'm hit again, Mr. Gillmore.' 

^^He was still trying to pull out the 
jammed slip, when a ball cut a furrow in the 
left side of his head. 

^^^Mr. Gillmore, they Ve hit me again.' 

^^He wiped the blood from his brow and 
161 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

eyes with his coat sleeve, and then returned 
to his task as calmly as if it were only a mos- 
quito that had stung him. It was not three 
minutes till a ball crashed into his ankle, 
inflicting a painful hurt. There was just a 
sHght quiver in the lad's voice as he looked 
up to me and said, ^ Mr. Gillmore, I 'm hit 
once more, but I Ve fixed the gun, sir.' 

^^This beardless boy of seventeen had 
never been under fire before. 

^^I heard bullets singing past me. One cut 
the loose folds of my blouse. Others passed 
so near to my face that I could feel little 
whirs of air brushing cool against the skin. 
Obviously the insurgents were concentrating 
their fire on me. First McDonald and Nyberg, 
and then Uttle Venville, had stopped the 
bullets which just missed the man at whom 
they were aimed. I fired at the brush again 
and again. It was maddening to hear the 
incessant v^histle of bullets and see my men 
dropping round me without being able to 
draw sight on a single foe. I had been under 

162 



A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

fire before, but never like this. Here I felt 
that I was the target, the hunted man, and 
this made it all the more bitter to be com- 
pelled to endure a galling fire which could 
not be effectively returned. 

^^Now the boat was drifting with the strong 
tide nearer and nearer the enemy. The men 
at the oars worked nobly, for it required 
nerve to sit there and keep stroke with their 
backs turned to a rain of lead, but no head- 
way was made. Several of the starboard 
oars had been shattered by the heavy Rem- 
ington balls, and that side of the cutter was 
pierced with many bullets. Ellsworth, the 
coxswain, who also occupied an exposed posi- 
tion, flinched not a hair's breadth under the 
hot fire, but coolly directed and encouraged 
his men. 

''Seeing that it was useless to struggle 
further with the oars, Ellsworth, Woodbury, 
and Edwards jumped overboard on the port 
side and tried to swim the boat out. Despite 
their efforts we drifted slowly toward a bank 

163 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

of sand. Soon we struck. More bullets 
whistled round our heads, and still not an 
enemy was to be seen. 

^^In another moment a motley crew, like 
savages, half nude, some in shirts, some with 
only trousers, armed with bolos, spears, and 
a rifle here and there, all mad with joy, yell- 
ing and brandishing their weapons, ran down 
the spit of sand from the right bank of the 
river. 

''The white flag was hoisted. The man 
who held it aloft received a ball in the wrist, 
and the banner came fluttering down to the 
bottom of the boat. If the tide would not 
let us get away, if the foe would not permit 
us to make surrender, there was one thing 
we could do with what strength we had left, 
and that was to go on fighting. We began 
to fire again. 

''From the left bank nothing had been 
heard up to this time but the crack of unseen 
rifles. Now a voice rang out from the 
thicket. It announced to us in Spanish that 

164 



A FIGHT WITH FILIPINOS 

unless we ceased firing and surrendered we 
should all be murdered in our tracks. The 
tones were those of an officer, and reahzing 
that the threat might quickly be made good, 
I threw up my arms in token of submission. 
There were no more shots. 

^^In an instant the savages were on us. 
They jabbered incessantly, and threatened 
with their bolos and spears. But they did no 
harm. One by one they took the men out 
of the boat. They were not rough or cruel. 
They treated the wounded carefully. They 
appeared to covet their personal belongings 
more than their lives. In a twinkling they 
stripped them of coats, hats, and shoes. 
They took money and watches from their 
pockets. They even pulled the rings from 
their fingers. All this time the men were 
calm and silent. They did not resist. ^^ 

It would fill many pages to tell the story 
of the hardships endured by Gillmore and his 
men after their capture. They tramped for 
hundreds of miles through the forests and 

165 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

over the mountains of the great island of 
Luzon. After being kept as prisoners for 
nearly a year, and meeting with many thrill- 
ing adventures and narrow escapes from 
death, he and six others reached the deck of 
an American warship. 

And what became of Arthur Venville? 

Lieutenant Gillmore could learn nothing. 
The lad was so badly hurt that he could not 
travel, and was left behind at Baler. No 
news of him was ever received. The monu- 
ment to his memory stands as a symbol of 
his heroic life. 



166 



XV 

FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

LATE in the spring of 1907 the Navy 
Department decided to send the 
Atlantic fleet of sixteen battleships on 
a cruise to the Pacific coast. In December the 
fleet assembled at Hampton Roads, and with 
Admiral Evans in command started on its 
voyage of more than fourteen thousand miles. 

It was planned for the fleet to spend the 
month of March of the following year in 
Magdalena Bay, on the coast of Lower 
California. 

After an eventful passage round Cape 

Horn and up the coast of South America, the 

fleet reached Magdalena Bay two days ahead 

of the appointed time. For the next month 

officers and men were kept at work in good 

earnest in firing at targets, laying mines, and 

doing other exercises. 

167 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

One morning during the last week in 
March a signal was flying for the laying of 
mines. The boatswain's whistle was followed 
by the lowering of boats. Every man was 
eager that his crew should gain the pennant, 
a mere bit of red and blue bunting to be 
flown by the winning ship. 

In a short space of time the many tons of 
mines, anchors, chains, and other things 
which made up the equipment were towed to 
the field of operations. Each vessel was to 
lay twelve mines within a certain area and 
depth of water. A single mine consisted of 
an anchor, a length of wire rope, and an iron 
ball containing an explosive charge. Such 
an outfit weighed more than a thousand 
pounds. 

Henry Nixon was a gunner's mate on the 
battleship Georgia, and had charge of a boat's 
crew on this particular day. In a letter to 
friends he gave a graphic account of how he 
almost lost his fife. 

^^We arrived at our field," he wrote, 
168 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

'^planted our mines, and got back to the 
Georgia in record-breaking time. Nothing 
now remained to be done except to wait for a 
few hours, and then recover the mines and 
test them for tightness and general condition. 

^^We succeeded in recovering eleven of our 
mines, but were unable to locate the missing 
one. Time was flying, and every minute^s 
delay cut down our hard-earned score. We 
kept our steam launch running over the field 
with grappling irons, but without result. 
There was nothing to do but to send to the 
ship for the diving outfit. A diver was hastily 
rigged and sent overboard. His method of 
searching for the missing mine was not satis- 
factory, and I ordered the crew to haul him 
to the surface. 

'^Our mines had been planted at a depth 
of ninety feet, or fifteen fathoms of water. 
The diver reported that the bottom was of 
dark clay, and that other conditions were un- 
favorable for diving. I was anxious, however, 
to make up for lost time, and so, regardless 

169 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

of the depth of water, and without the least 
forethought or hesitation, I got into the 
suit, stepped over the side, and stood on the 
ladder w^hile the helmet was being bolted into 
place. My intention was to remain down 
only a few moments. To save time, I did 
not wait for the diver's knife and belt to be 
buckled about my waist, but gave the order 
to put on my faceplate and lower away. 

^^^Here goes for Davy Jones,' I said to the 
man who was fastening on the faceplate. 
The clank and whine of the air pump filled 
my ears, but I could see his face wrinkle into 
a grin at my attempt at a joke. Then the 
bright sunshine of the warm afternoon gave 
place to the bottle green of the sea as I sank 
slowly into its depths. 

^^The depth did not bother me until I 
began to get near the bottom. It is neces- 
sary to lower slowly, that the pressure of the 
increasing depth may come more gradually 
on the diver's ear drums. Every moment, as 
this pressure becomes greater, he finds it 

170 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

more difficult to breathe. Until the bottom 
is reached, he labors under physical pain. I 
got down in pretty good condition, and im- 
mediately started off in the direction in which 
I supposed the missing line to lie. 

''I walked about for what I judged to be 
twenty minutes, and then, failing to find any 
trace of the mine, I gave three pulls on my 
life line, to signal my desire to be hauled to 
the surface. When a signal is given by a 
diver, it is answered by the man tending the 
life line in the boat above. The steady 
chug-chug of the air pump comforted me with 
the assurance that I was being carefully 
tended, but there was no answer to my 
signal. I pulled the line again, and waited 
for a reply. None came, however, and in a 
mild panic I reached for the air hose and 
gave the signal on that. If my life line had 
parted, then the air hose could be used to 
haul me to the surface. Again I received no 
answer. 

^^It occurred to me that the line and hose 
171 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

must have got foul of something that cut off 
the signals. Quickly I followed my line 
hand over hand until it ended at the mine 
for which I had been looking. I was pleased 
to have found it, but joy was speedily changed 
to dismay. It was light enough at this point 
to show me that I was in a desperate pHght. 

^^The mushroom-shaped anchor lay in the 
mud, while the wire rope holding the mine in 
position led straight up until it disappeared 
in the dark water overhead. Round this 
rope was a hopeless tangle of air hose, Ufe 
line, and electric wire. In the semidarkness 
I could see that it would require at least an 
hour to free myself. 

^^The pressure under which I labored was 
now beginning to affect me. My breath 
came with difficulty. My wits, hov/ever, 
were keenly alive. I began to walk round 
the rope to clear myself from it. In thinking 
over the matter now it seems to me that I 
must have caused the tangle in the first place 
by walking in a circle, with the mine as a 

172 



> 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

center, and that in stepping over my life line 
and hose I had actually made three knots in 
them, round the rope. The pump fortunately 
was still sending air down to me, and I knew 
that the crew would not cease to pump until 
my dead body was lifted into the boat. This 
thought cheered me wonderfully.^' 

While Nixon was trying to get free, ninety 
feet below the surface of the sea, his crew 
began to get anxious. A half hour had 
passed, and no sign from the diver. The line 
tender gave the signal to come up. There 
was no answer. The man repeated it. Still 
no answer. The signal was repeated every 
few minutes. At last it was plain that the 
line had become fouled. The bubbles from 
the diver's helmet showed his position. Evi- 
dently the poor fellow was foul of the mine. 
What was to be done to save his life ? Nobody 
could think of a plan. 

A launch and crew from the Georgia now 
arrived on the scene. 

^^The man is probably dead,'' said one of 
173 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

the crew; ^^why not take a desperate chance 
and haul him up from the bottom bodily?'' 

Since this would put a weight of more than 
a thousand pounds on the life line, it was 
clear that Nixon was in a dreadful situa- 
tion. 

^^In the mean time/' continued Nixon, ^^I 
was striving desperately to clear myself, but 
with every moment that passed I reaUzed 
more clearly that my case was hopeless. It 
was not so much that I was entangled so 
tightly, but the pressure on my lungs made 
every movement a torture. I felt that each 
hard-drawn breath must be my last. Never- 
theless this did not prevent me from keeping 
up my efforts to free myself. How I re- 
gretted that I had not taken along my diver's 
knife! I tore at the wire rope with my 
finger nails; I pressed my helmet against 
the rope and tried to get a grip on it with 
my teeth. This, of course, was sheer non- 
sense, induced by my frenzied struggles against 
death. 

174 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

^'My dear reader, have you ever been face 
to face with death? What did you think 
about? past mistakes? loved ones? re- 
grets? I didn't. I was sure that death 
would claim me soon, but my mind was so 
busy in scheming some method of getting 
the better of the grim enemy that the actual 
thing had no terrors for me. 

^^ Suddenly the bight of the line which was 
about my waist began to grow taut. The 
crew above me were evidently taking a 
desperate chance. They were staking every- 
thing on the strength of that slender life Une. 
I felt myself being dragged along the bottom. 
The pressure about my waist was terrible. 
Just as I felt myself lapsing into unconscious- 
ness, the crew stopped hauling for a moment. 
I recovered instantly, and looking round, 
could see the mud drifting down with the 
tide. I was breathing heavily, and felt as if 
my lungs must burst. 

^^ Again the line straightened out, and under 
the terrific pressure one of my ribs bent in- 

175 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

ward until it snapped. At this same moment 
my helmet came into violent contact with 
the anchor. A blinding sheet of water poured 
over my face. I instantly realized that my 
helmet was punctured. 

'^If my situation was desperate a moment 
ago, it was surely hopeless now. Hurriedly 
I felt for the hole and thrust my fingers into 
it. The rough edges cut to the bone, but the 
greater flow of water was checked. The 
strain was too great, however, and I lost my 
senses. My hand slipped out of the puncture, 
and the inrushing water revived me. 

'^How many times I fainted, I do not know. 
Each time a jet of cold water revived me 
sufficiently to make me realize that my only 
salvation lay in keeping my hand stuffed 
into the hole of the helmet. Even in these 
desperate moments the thought that the 
men would keep on pumping until I was 
hauled to the surface was a great comfort. 
Although the hose was knotted and twisted, 
the life-giving air came down in steady 

176 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

throbs. This in a large measure served to 
keep the water from pouring into the helmet. 

'^It seemed to me that I had been in the 
death trap for ages. An occasional ray of 
sunlight, however, penetrated even to this 
depth, and I tried to think how many hours 
remained before darkness would set in. I 
will not dwell on my great agony, mental and 
physical. My fractured rib did not bother 
me. My bleeding hand, thrust tightly into 
the helmet, was numb and without pain. 
The terrific stress under which I labored, 
due to the great pressure, made breathing so 
difficult that it was nothing short of tor- 
ture. It seemed as if I must die at any 
moment. 

'^ Suddenly the rope about my waist be- 
came still tighter. I felt myself dangling and 
twisting clear of the bottom. A cloud of 
mud filled the surrounding water, but as it 
cleared under the influence of the tide, I 
could see a tangle of wire, ropes, and other 
gear belonging to the outfit. The anchor, 

177 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

weighing five hundred and forty pounds, was 
suspended, a dead weight, from my body. 

^^ Picture yourself, reader, within the coil 
of a thin rope, suspended seventy feet below 
the surface of the sea, with a broken rib, and 
a trickling stream of water rising slowly to 
your chin. Then hang a weight of five hun- 
dred and forty pounds below your fractured 
rib, and you will be in the same position that 
I was in. 

^^I was too far gone to reaUze that if the 
line would stand the strain, I should soon be 
grasping the hands of my shipmates in the 
sunlight above. I was dimly conscious that 
the water about me was becoming more 
transparent, and the chill of the depths 
giving place to the warm water near the 
surface. The tangle of ropes and gear gave 
off bubbles under the decreasing pressure. 
In spite of the crushing strain of the Hne 
about my waist, I began to breathe with less 
effort, and all at once I reaUzed what I had 
gone through. 

178 



FACING DEATH UNDER THE SEA 

'^I could now see the bottom of the launch, 
and was within five feet of it, when my up- 
ward progress came to a sudden halt. I later 
learned that the crew had stopped pulling on 
the life line to gather in the slack rope that 
had come to the surface. A coil of the rope 
slipped under my leg in such a way that I 
was almost stood on my head. The water 
in my diving suit began to flow into the 
helmet. It quickly rose to my eyes, then 
covered my nose and mouth, and there I 
dangled. 

^'I prayed that death might come swiftly. 
A wave of pity swept over me at the thought 
that one good pull on the line would set me 
upright again and thus drain the helmet. I 
was now in a desperate situation — within a 
few feet of the surface, yet apparently doomed 
to death. 

^^But help was at hand. One of the boat 
crew, hastily stripping himself, dived down 
to get a closer look at the conditions. He 
noticed the bight of line that kept me in- 

179 



HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN SAILORS 

verted, and by a single swift pull had me up- 
right in a second. 

^' There is little more to tell. I was soon 
hauled on board the launch. When it was 
discovered that my helmet was punctured, 
the astonishment that I still lived knew no 
bounds. The crew had long ago given me 
up for dead. 

^^I had succeeded in finding the mine, but 
for several years my experience seemed to me 
like some awful nightmare.^' 



180 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 



Albemarle, al'be-marl 
Azores, a-zorz' 

B 

Baler, ba-lar' (d as in care) 
Bahamas, ba-ha'maz 
Bermuda, ber-mu'da (u as 

use) 
Blythe, blith 
Burgoyne, bur-goiii' 
Burroughs, bur'oz 

C 

California, kal-i-for'ni-a 
Carolina, kar-o-li'na 
Catalano, ka-ta-la'no (a as 

arm) 
Champlain, sham-plan' 
Chesapeake, ches'a-peek 
Confiance, kon-fe-ans' (d as 

ask) 
Cyane, se-an' (d as in ask) 

D 

Dacres, da'kerz 
Debenham, deb'en-am 
Decatur, de-ka'tur 
Dewey, dew'y 



Dillon, dil'un 
Downie, doun'y 
Duddington, dud'ing-tun 



Faneuil, fun''l or fan''l 
Filipino, fil-i-pe'no 



Gaspee, gas-pee' 
Gibraltar, ji-brol'ter 
Gloria Dei, glo'ri-a de'i 
Gloriana, glo-ri-a'na (d as in 

arm) 
Guerriere, ge-ri-er' (^ as in 

get) 
in 

H 

Halford, hal'ford 
Hawaiian , ha- wi'yan (d as in 
in arm) 

Honolulu, ho-no-loo'loo 



Indies, in'diz 

J 

Java, jix'va (d as in arm) 
Jocko, jok'o 



181 



PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 



Kanaka, kan'a-ka 



Levant, le-vant' 
Liverpool, liv'er-pool 
Luzon, loo-zon' 

M 

MacDonough, mak-don'o 
Macomb, ma-koom' 
Madeira, ma-de'ra 
Magdalena, mag-da-le'na 
Maltese, mol-tez' 
Marie Celeste, ma-re' se-lest' 



Petrel, pet'rel 
Philippine, fil'i-pin 
Plymouth, plim'uth 
Portuguese, por'tu-gez {g as in 

get) 

Preble, preb'l 
Prevost, pre-vo' 



Roanoke, ro'a-nok 
Rynders, rin'derz 



Sabin, sab'in 
Saginaw, sag'i-naw 



Massachusetts, mas-a-choo'sets Saratoga, sar-a-to'ga 



Mawney, raaw'ny 

Montague, raou'ta-gii (u as in 

use) 
Morocco, mo-rok'o 
Morrissey, mor'i-sy 

N 

Nam quit, nam 'k wit 
Napoleon, na-po'le-un 
Narragausett, nar-a-gan'set 
Nassau, nas'aw 
Nautilus, naw'ti-lus 
Norwegian, nor-we'jan 



Panama, pan-a-ma' (a as in 

arrri) 
Parliament, par'li-ment (a as 

in arm) 



Sargasso, sar-gas'o (a as m 

arm) 
Savannah, sa-van'a 
Sicard, se-kar' (d as in ash) 
Sicily, sis'i-ly 
Syracuse, sir'a-kiis (u as in 

use) 



Talbot, tol'but 
Tenedos, ten'e-dos 
Ticonderoga, ti-kon-der-o'ga 
Trafalgar, traf-al-gar' (d as in 

arm) 
Tripoli, trip'o-ly 
Tripolitan, tri-pol'i-tan 

W 

Woolstein, wool'stin 



182 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 461 032 A 



